Power In The Prince By Machiavelli

In The Prince, Machiavelli describes the different methods of acquiring the power over a state. The first he mentions is if the principalities are acquired through one’s own arms and virtue. They “acquire their principality with difficulty but hold it with ease.”(23) The second, “Of New Principalities That Are Acquired by Others’ Arms and Fortune.”(25) Someone gives these to the prince either for money or by the favor of whoever gave it. “Those who become princes from private individual solely by fortune become so with little trouble, but maintain themselves with much.”(25) The next, “Of Those Who Have Attained a Principality through Crimes.”(34) Acquired through crime, the states

Machiavelli brought up many controversial and untraditional points regarding what a kingdom or prince was allowed to do to maintain power. The most extreme, being that the prince wasn't held to any moral code in the practice of maintaining power. A prince must be prepared to ward off any conflicting power even if it means breaking traditional moral codes. Other powers, Machiavelli believed, wouldn't be so kind in combat and a prince must fight back with equal or greater force. Another point is that it's better to be feared than loved. Machiavelli believed that love didn't

Machiavelli was a public servant who wrote a political treatise addressed to the prince mainly touching on governance issue and also the stagnation of power. The Machiavelli treatise is mainly based on the identification of a leader as a source of power. Machiavelli addresses his work mainly to the prince. According to Machiavelli a prince must have glory and power over all surrounding lands, leaders and kingdoms. Machiavelli philosophy accepts the use of cruel and immoral means to achieve the results needed by the prince (Knapp, 2014).

In The Prince, Machiavelli’s primary focus is on how a prince should act when exercising his political power. Machiavelli argues that a prince should first separate his public and private life. Therefore, a prince must be willing to deceive his people in thinking he is the best suited leader. Although a prince may need to act immoral at times, he must not abuse his power. A prince must only practice acts of manipulation, coercion, and deceit, to protect his power.

In The Prince, originally written in 1513 and later published in 1532, Florentine administrator and diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli argues that a ruler must take appropriate action based upon pragmatism and independence in order to seize and hold power. Based on the circumstances, a ruler must be able to select between contrasting influences: liberality and parsimony, virtue and immorality, prudence and recklessness. The book was very controversial when first published because it contended the Christian ideals that rulers should always be good and just, but the novel is highly acclaimed today. Machiavelli not only proposes a series of revolutionary political ideas in The Prince but also offers a persuasive and masterful defense of them.

Nowadays, it is politically impossible to commit to paper a "training guide" for leaders. There are innumerable detractors to any possible stance or strategy a leader might adopt. As a result of this, all "training" must take place behind closed doors, far from the prying eyes and ears of the news media or the public. But this has not always been the case.

"Machiavelli identifies the interests of the prince with the interests of the state." He felt that it was human nature to be selfish, opportunistic, cynical, dishonest, and gullible, which in essence, can be true. The state of nature was one of conflict; but conflict, Machiavelli reasoned, could be beneficial under the organization of a ruler. Machiavelli did not see all men as equal. He felt that some men were better suited to rule than others. I believe that this is true in almost any government. However, man in general, was corrupt -- always in search of more power. He felt that because of this corruptness, an absolute monarch was necessary to insure stability. Machiavelli outlined what characteristics this absolute ruler should have in The Prince. One example of this can be seen in his writings concerning morality. He saw the Judeo-Christian values as faulty in the state's success. "Such visionary expectations, he held, bring the state to ruin, for we do not live in the world of the "ought," the fanciful utopia, but in the world of "is". The prince's role was not to promote virtue, but to insure security. He reasoned that the Judeo-Christian values would make a ruler week if he actually possessed them, but that they could be useful in dealing with the citizens if the prince seemed to have these qualities. Another example of Machiavelli's ideal characteristics of a prince

Machiavelli’s work The Prince is, evidently, a bit dated. However, the points that it expresses maintain their significance, even when monarchies are no longer the primary form of government. The Prince is relevant to contemporary society in today’s age as it relates to contemporary elements such as North Korea, World War II, and more.

In the sixteenth century, barbarians from France, Spain, and Germany constantly fought for power in Italy, a country already fractured into quarrelling city-states. During this time, the exiled diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a guide for Lorenzo di Piero De’ Medici, Italy’s chosen ‘deliverer,’ in the hopes of being welcomed back into society. Throughout his guide, Machiavelli created the image of an ideal leader, shaped by the defeats and accomplishments of previous rulers. To sustain one’s rule successfully, Machiavelli believed that a leader needed the wisdom and prudence to act appropriately in difficult situations, as well as harbor minimal dependence on others for strength; a leader, most of all, was capable of facing

In Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics", the concept of knowledge is expressed by the author as truth of the soul which guides one to find the virtuous middle ground between excess and defect (Aristotle, Pg. 126-128). This aspiration to intellectual virtue is a political one because it is an attempt at doing the right thing and achieving the "good". Within Book VI, Aristotle identifies three different kinds of knowledge: scientific, craft and practical (Aristotle, Pg. 128). Scientific knowledge, as described by Aristotle, is comprised of necessarily eternal truths which are "ungenerated and imperishable" (Aristotle, Pg. 129). Knowledge of science, therefore, must be concerned with the unchanging truths of the natural world. Craft or the intellectual

The perceived level of tolerance a prince reveals dictates the judgement and treatment he will receive during his rule. It should be a rulers first priority to protect his kingdom. Therefore, entertaining a potential “bad” or self-interested characteristic is sometimes necessary to reach such an end. However, it should be noted that these vices are truly evil if they endanger the kingdom or threaten the people in too negative a way. A ruler must understand how these negative characteristics are employed in the proper interests of the state while simultaneously not being influenced by the judgement of his fellow man. A strong ruler will recognize how to employ his power and authority in a positive form not only improving the well-being of the society, but also expanding his own knowledge of the power of good and evil and the responsibility that comes with this

The Prince is Machiavelli’s guide for ruling and conquering states. Machiavelli elaborates on various ways to acquire principalities and provides the reader with a straightforward guide on how to successfully conquer and maintain control over states. Machiavelli analyses the strengths and flaws of certain paths to conquest, how to maintain a hold on power and the importance of strong arms. Machiavelli sees humans as easily persuaded and simple minded. He believes that all people want to be controlled and guided and those who control do so because their intellect is much greater than the average person. In chapter eleven, Ecclesiastical Principalities, Machiavelli elaborates on the strength and weaknesses

Plato has also mentions how the soul is made up of three important parts. The first one is the capacity for reasoning, according to Plato the “rational” part of the soul is designed to help an individual to seek to make rational decisions, which is an important element found in guardians. The second element is “courage” which is what is presented when one acts in the best interest of the state to protect the state. The third element is “temperance” which is “unlike courage and wisdom,” it has the ability to “produce harmony of the weaker and the strong and the middle class,” (pg.69) which is discovered in the producers of the social class because they have the ability to be the middle ground and maintain a sustained lifestyle by producing

The construction of an ideal ruler is a simple task. An individual simply needs to choose characteristics and traits of their ruler to possess. However, reality is immensely different from these hypothetical models for a ruler, and require alternative criteria for a successful leader. In Petrarch’s Letters of Old Age, his description of a ruler falls in the theoretical category because it is the formation of a picturesque ruler, but this ruler is unattainable because of chance and uncertainty in the real world. In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he illustrates many different characteristics that could potentially lead to success as a ruler, but his work differs from Petrarch because Petrarch’s advice tended to be morally good, while Machiavelli promotes

A prince provided a controlled manner of governing and was typically considered just, yet wise. “A prince must have no other objective... but that of war, its methods and its discipline, for that is the only art expected of a ruler” (Machiavelli 53-54). Machiavelli felt a prince should have been