Baker, Holley, Monroe, Sabir
Oliver
Philosophy 1030
10/06/15
Niccolo Machiavelli
Report Summary
Niccolo
di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, born in Florence during the Italian Renaissance,
is a notable political philosopher and diplomat. He was an astute individual
who was surrounded by powerful familial ties. During his later years in life,
Machiavelli served as a diplomat under the command of Cesare de Borgia. This
very instance influenced his political theories and philosophical writings
(I.E: "The Prince") fairly heavily. Asides from this, Machiavelli
experienced many different foreign/political courts in which he used to
comprise several other works. Eventually, he was removed/banned from the
capital of Florence in which he would continue to write and be fascinated by
political works/writers.
Niccolo
Machiavelli's most popularized book "The Prince" dealt with acquiring
and maintaining power or political control. He brought about the question of
immorality/morality within the duties that an authority must be confined to.
"Machiavellianism" was coined as a result of this; it stated that
deception/manipulation of others is used in pursuit of personal gain. This is
consistent with Machiavelli's views of virtue in which he believed that if the
end result of a particular situation may be considered noble than the means in
acquiring it are expendable. Also mentioned in "The Prince," Idealism
vs. Realism is explained by Machiavelli as two things that should seldom be
accompanied into each other's affairs. Another one of Machiavelli's popularized
writings, "The Discourses on Livy," discusses the methods of building
a successful political empire (E.G: Republic vs. Principality).
Machiavelli
spares no expense in discussing how religion should be separated from political
affairs as it creates a more idealistic society and a less realistic society.
Having said this, an amoral ruler would be preferred in Machiavelli's ideology
(E.G: One that is willing to rule without allowing morals to interfere in his
affairs). It is clear that is nearly the
opposite of which Aristotle believed to have reported (I.E: Civic and Moral
Virtue). Needless to say, Machiavelli
disapproved of religion in political affairs as it did not consist of empirical
evidence. These ideas allowed
Machiavelli to influence various groups of people. For instance, he inspired
the transition of many non-republican governments to adopt his idea of how a
society should be run. Granted, this came with a lot of modification to his
point of view in the form of disagreeing with "ruling with an iron
fist" and having an immoral ruler. As a result of this, Machiavelli paved
the way for many subsequent generations of philosophy to achieve a more
materialistic/empirical form of government; and, even today, he is cited as
"The Father of Modern Political Theory."
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