Transcript Machiavelli

Nicolo Machiavelli
1469-1527
Il Principe
• In this treatise, Machiavelli writes
for his employers- the Medicis- an
examination of how to attain power
and keep it.
• It is still admired today, mostly by
spin doctors, as still relevant in the
21st century.
• Marlowe would certainly have been
aware of it.
Advocates:
• Cunning
• Scheming
• Ruthlessness.
• Real world leaders need to be
half beasts, containing the fox’s
guile and the lion’s brutality.
Immoral?
• Probably not, since the whole is linked with
a flourishing state. The people should not
suffer in this construct.
• Thus the intended outcome of the actions is
to the benefit of the many, rather than of the
individual (who nevertheless will have
benefited by his rise to power).
• The ends do not justify the means in all
cases.
• Any acceptable cruel action must be swift
and targeted so as not to cause unnecessary
hurt.
Moral?
• The means to an end should be
largely moral. Generally
harshness must be used to
instil learning or develop better
practices (cruel to be kind).
• Within families, certainly, be
moral, since families can be
relied upon, is the message
POLITICS
• In this area, no one can be
trusted so the prince must be
“flexible”. It is this flexibility
which allows for individual
responses to individual events.
Morality can be dispensed with
to suit circumstances.