Daniele Citti
Professor Brusseau
Final Draft
16 October 2014
To Be Loved, or to Be Feared? That is the Question.
Question: Should a leader be feared over being loved? Machiavelli’s The Prince is an influential text that has long been a guideline for our leaders ever since it was originally published in 1532 for Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici. It describes, in detail, the cunning, unscrupulous methods that a prince who may be reading can acquire political power and maintain it. Though it provoked a lot of controversy when it was first written in 1513, The Prince became an important text for many of the world’s leaders and leaders such as Benito Mussolini, Napoleon Bonaparte, and John Adams, all of whom had studied or made reference to The
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He feels like a leader achieves their ultimate power from being feared, while still avoiding the hatred of their people. “A wise prince should establish himself on that which is his own control and not that of others; he must endeavor to avoid hatred” (XVII). This seems slightly contradictory to many of the things that Machiavelli states throughout the book, which lulls us into thinking that he believes violence and aggression are crucial for a prince to keep his power. While he does discuss the benefits and essentiality of violence in many points of the book, he almost always will back it up with softer elements. One example is that a prince might need to use violence on a group of unruly citizens to instill fear in them, but “the prince should make himself feared in such a way that, if he is not loved, at least he escapes being hated.”[II]. This quote leads us to believe that Machiavelli doesn’t believe a prince should be cruel just because he has the power to be so; violent force is only the short-term solution. Machiavelli also talks about honor and a sense of glory. You can be as feared and strong as you’d like, but you can’t be a great ruler unless you have honor. This is evident when Machiavelli talks about the uses of violence. He calls it a necessary evil, however he does not agree on a prince being cruel at …show more content…
A leader that is loved by his people has more than their simple obedience; he has their undying loyalty, and the full support of each and every one of them. Should the kingdom be attacked, everyone would rally under the banner of their Prince because their undying devotion would stir them to battle and protect him. A populace that did not view their prince in such a light would not be as inclined to fight and die for him, opting instead for the enemy to overcome the prince and overthrow his rule. Furthermore, an unhappy kingdom is a volatile one, one that may turn against their prince at any moment. If a prince is well-loved, then he doesn’t have to live in fear that the next day, there could be a revolt against the
In The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli expresses that human nature is innately self-interested. The text itself is a political handbook that offers advice for the powerful elite on how to address arising conflicts, maintain and grow their political influence and power. Most notably among his advice is that it is preferable for a leader to be feared rather than to be loved when having both is not possible. Machiavelli, in chapter seventeen, explains that men are “ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely” (Kindle Location 1002).
As such, it is very dangerous to impose a new order where one may face attack by hostile forces and have only “lukewarm” defenders of the new order. It is then necessary to examine how the prince will utilize his virtue. If he is to “beg” and ask others for help, he is then seen as week and cannot accomplish his goal. The alternative is to use “force”, to arm themselves, and to literally force those who do not believe in the new order to believe. After all, human nature is changeable and easily changed, but difficult to maintain in a certain persuasion, after which force is necessary to maintain it. And once created through great difficulty, it is then easy to maintain, as under the prince’s rule, the need for force will lessen, since those who would rebel are eliminated and the ruler gains reputation and respect from his subjects.
He discusses that the prince have military knowledge, love and fear, trustworthiness, and good and bad reputations. He deeply believes in the art of war. "...a prince must not have any objective nor any thought, nor take up any art, other than the art of war and its ordering and discipline; because it is the only art that pertains to him who commands. And it is of such virtue that not only does it maintain those who were born princes, but many times makes men rise to that rank from private station; and conversely one sees that when princes have thought more of delicacies than of arms, they have lost their state." He also writes about whether it is better to be loved or feared, stating that it is best to be feared, but not hated. Love can change in an instant, and it is better to always have control, even if the prince must be feared. Patriotism and dedication to the state was also a very important aspect. In conclusion, Machiavelli strived for power and strength by any means possible. Through violence and fear, the end result would be worth it to him.
In chapter eight of The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, he encourages the reader that if you want your country to be successful than you should be wicked and use evil. Therefore, what Machiavelli is trying to get across Lorenzo the Magnificent's head is that if you choose not to be harsh and demanding, than the people will see you as weak and take you over. In the book Machiavelli persuades the reader about how one should use evil by introducing the examples about Agathocles and Oliverotto da Fermo. These two leaders saw the same thing that Machiavelli saw, to use force in order to obtain control of their country. In the book, Machiavelli writes, “...that are applied at one blow and are necessary to one's security, and that are not persisted
Throughout The Prince, Machiavelli encourages the idea that a fear leader is a good leader. Machiavelli makes the point that a good leader knows that it is, “far safer to be feared than loved” (Machiavelli 43) because love allows for weakness. It is easy to keep people under control and in line when they fear their leader because they do not want to have to face consequences that come with “doing wrong”. When a leader is loved, some many look at this as a weakness. Those who fear their leader are is less likely to curate rebellions and revolts because they know that their leader is not afraid of applying punishment. When a ruler is too kind to their subjects it leaves them vulnerable and they are easily taken advantage of, which threatens their position. For a good leader should, “desire to be accounted merciful and not cruel”, and needs to,
“It is much safer to be feared than loved.” This quotation was just a specimen of the harsh and very practical political annotation of the legendary historian, Niccolò Machiavelli – philosopher, patriot, diplomat, advisor and statesman. He was born as the son of a poor lawyer in 1498, but he never let boundaries restrict him. He still received an excellent humanist education from the University of Florence and was soon after appointed as the Second Chancellor of the Republic of Florence.2 His political importance to Florence would soon give him the opportunity to write what is disputed as one of the most significant works in history, The Prince.
In The Prince, Machiavelli explains what a good and successful prince should be like. He advocates a strong, cutthroat authority figure and encourages the winning of power by any means necessary. The main theme in The Prince is that mob rule is dangerous, for people know only what is good for themselves and not what is good for the whole. The common people, in Machiavelli’s view, “are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are yours”. He believes that these commoners should be
Machiavelli emphasizes that it is better to be feared than loved because a feared prince will not be challenged or hated, and is needed to control an army. A feared leader will not be challenged by his people or the enemy. A loved leader would show more weakness and be more vulnerable to attack or overthrow. According to Machiavelli, “Men have have less hesitation in injuring one who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared, for love is held by a chain of duty which, since men are bad, they break at every chance of their own profit; but fear is held by a dread of
Machiavelli believed that vicious action should be taken by a leader if it meant that he would remain in power and be a stronger prince. As is shown in this quote from The Prince, “Men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared”, Machiavelli believed that it was better to be feared than loved. In his opinion, violence by a prince worked to solidify his power and be the means that is justified by this end: a strong successful ruler who is feared and thus respected by all. In The Prince, he cites the example of Cesare Borgia who was considered cruel but through this cruelty was able to unify the state and restore peace and stability (Machievelli, 150 chapter XVII). Socrates, on the other hand, did not believe in
One of the three major themes of the Prince would be Hatred. For a prince to remain in power he would have to avoid the hatred of all the people. It wasn’t necessary for a prince to be loved by his people but it’s even better that he is feared by his people, but in fact if a prince is feared by his people it could be the cause of his downfall.
Machiavelli encouraged violence for the best interest of the government, not for a princes’ selfish needs to assert power. His harsh and brutal suggestions were only originated for
When people are put into different situations they must act accordingly. When their life is in danger they must do what it takes to survive, and when a man is made prince he must adjust to his situation. He must act accordingly so that he can remain in power. Machiavelli feels that a price should be generous, but not so generous that he loses everything in the process. Machiavelli says, “… for when he is poor, nobody will respect him.” The prince gets his money from the people, and to give them everything that they want he would have to increase taxes and that would anger his people. Machiavelli is right when it comes to a prince being generous. You must be generous enough that your people remain happy and respectful, but stingy enough that you do not end up poor trying to please them.
In the book The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli, the author argues in chapter seventeen that a ruler should be feared by the citizens as long as he or she avoids being hated. Machiavelli states that every prince should aim to be fair, or in other words neither feared nor loved. Machiavelli explains that if being fair is not a choice then the ruler should choose to be feared because the purpose of a ruler should have his or her kingdom united and loyal. A ruler that is loved by the community has the citizens’ loyalty preserved through friendship, and this type of friendship can be betrayed or taken advantaged of by the citizens. He or she should be feared as long as the citizens do not hate the ruler because this allows him or her to have a unified community. Machiavelli concluded that being feared as a ruler is better than being a loved ruler, but he or she must avoid hatred. I disagree with Machiavelli’s main point that a leader should be feared as long as he or she is not hated because a leader should be viewed as a role model to the community, which is why a leader should be loved.
Speaking of such qualities as ruthless and mercy, Machiavelli argues that every ruler would like to be regarded as merciful and not cruel. Another thing is that often in order to retain power the ruler has to show cruelty. If the state is threatened with chaos or mess, the task of the prince is to prevent this even if it is necessary to arrange some reprisals. After all, with respect to the rest of the citizens, these executions will become a noble deed since riots and chaos would bring suffering to them (Machiavelli 24). Machiavelli provides an example of Cesare Borgia whose cruelty led to peace in the state. In that way, the
What must be understood is that the throne is always in jeopardy and someone is always there to try to knock the prince off his pedestal. This is a prime understanding that a prince must have, and fuels the infamous argument by Machiavelli that it is better to be feared than loved. Machiavelli explains that, for the most part, love is very subjective and eventually will subside unless further concessions are made to appease his subjects. In addition, people only care about their personal conveniences and a prince would have to overextend himself if he were to be loved by all. Fear, however, is not subjective and has a universal effect on all his people. Fear can be attained by sporadic violent acts. One must understand, however, that massive amounts of violence can not be done because it would portray the Prince as tyrant, and might stir up his people to revolt against him. The acts must be calculated, concise, and serve a direct purpose not only to his benefit but to the people’s also. Despite what might be assumed, Machiavelli is really developing a principality based around the people, where the Prince’s actions are merely to save his own head from the chopping block.