Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
http://www.orst.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/machaivelli.html
The first great political philosopher of the Renaissance was Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). His famous treatise, The Prince, stands apart from all other political writings of the period insofar as it focus on the practical problems a monarch faces in staying in power, rather than more speculative issues explaining the foundation of political authority. As such, it is an expression of realpolitik, that is, governmental policy based on retaining power rather than pursuing ideals.
Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy at a time when the country was in
political upheaval . Italy was divided between four dominant city-states, and
each of these was continually at the mercy of the stronger foreign governments
of Europe. Since 1434 Florence was ruled by the wealthy Medici family. Their
rule was temporarily interrupted by a reform movement, begun in 1494, in which
the young Machiavelli became an important diplomat. When the Medici family
regained power in 1512 with the help of Spanish troops, Machiavelli was tortured
and removed from public life. For the next 10 years he devoted himself to
writing history, political philosophy, and even plays. He ultimately gained
favor with the Medici family and was called back to public duty for the last two
years of his life. Machiavelli's greatest work is The Prince, written in 1513
and published after his death in 1532. The work immediately provoked controversy
and was soon condemned by Pope Clement VIII. Its main theme is that princes
should retain absolute control of their territories, and they should use any
means of expediency to accomplish this end, including deceit. Scholars struggle
over interpreting Machiavelli's precise point. In several section Machiavelli
praises Caesar Borgia, a Spanish aristocrat who became a notorious and much
despised tyrant of the Romagna region of northern Italy. During Machiavelli's
early years as a diplomat, he was in contact with Borgia and witnessed Borgia's
rule first hand. Does Machiavelli hold up Borgia as the model prince? Some
readers initially saw The Prince as a satire on absolute rulers such as Borgia,
which showed the repugnance of arbitrary power (thereby implying the importance
of liberty). However, this theory fell apart when, in 1810, a letter by
Machiavelli was discovered in which he reveals that he wrote The Prince to
endear himself to the ruling Medici family in Florence. To liberate Italy from
the influence of foreign governments, Machiavelli explains that strong
indigenous governments are important, even if they are absolutist.
"I have composed a little work On principalities; there I plunge as deeply as I can into this subject, discussing what a principality is, what kinds there are, how they are acquired. how they are maintained, why they are lost."
For Machiavelli, Florence was the object of his patrioism, and which he tried to serve with single minded devotion. Unfortunately for him, the days of Floretine greatness were largely past when he reached maturity. Two years after the death of Lorenzo de Medici in 1492, the French invaded Italy and in the ensuring struggles between great powers, Florence was reduced from a first rate Italian power to a second rate power dominated by Spain. The Florentine Republic for which he worked as a high level civil servant was swept away in 1512 leaving him unemployed.
The Prince embodies Machiavelli's response to the Italian crisis of disunity and foreign domination. Out of its pages, as George Bull put it in his introduction to the work, "strides the figure of the autocrat, the new man, ruthless, efficient, and defiant, the literary forerunner of the new monarchs of the sixteenth century."
Machiavelli's aim in the Prince is to tell the new rulers how to remain in power once they have gained it. The best way is to rule well. If this is not possible, then Machiavelli presents a variety of strategems for remaining in power. It is these which have given us the adjective "Machiavellian." http://www.orst.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/machaivelli.html
Machiavelli opens The Prince describing the two principal types of
governments: monarchies and republics. His focus in The Prince is on monarchies.
The most controversial aspects of Machiavelli's analysis emerge in the middle
chapters of his work. In Chapter 15 he proposes to describe the truth about
surviving as a monarch, rather than recommending lofty moral ideals. He
describes those virtues which, on face value, we think a prince should possess.
He concludes that some "virtues" will lead to a prince's destruction,
whereas some "vices" allow him to survive. Indeed, the virtues which
we commonly praise in people might lead to his downfall. In chapter 16 he notes
that we commonly think that it is best for a prince to have a reputation of
being generous. However, if his generosity is done in secret, no one will know
about it and he will be thought to be greedy. If it is done openly, then he
risks going broke to maintain his reputation. He will then extort more money
from his subjects and thus be hated. For Machiavelli, it is best for a prince to
have a reputation for being stingy. Machiavelli anticipates examples one might
give of generous monarchs who have been successful. He concludes that generosity
should only be shown to soldiers with goods taken from a pillaged enemy city. In
Chapter 17 he argues that it is better for a prince to be severe when punishing
people rather than merciful. Severity through death sentences affects only a
few, but it deters crimes which affects many. Further, he argues, it is better
to be feared than to be loved. However, the prince should avoid being hated,
which he can easily accomplish by not confiscating the property of his subjects:
"people more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of
their inheritance." In Chapter 18, perhaps the most controversial section
of The Prince, Machiavelli argues that the prince should know how to be
deceitful when it suits his purpose. When the prince needs to be deceitful,
though, he must not appear that way. Indeed he must always exhibit five virtues
in particular: mercy, honesty, humaneness, uprightness, and religiousness. In
Chapter 19 Machiavelli argues that the prince must avoid doing things which will
cause him to be hated. This is accomplished by not confiscating property, and
not appearing greedy or wishy-washy. In fact, the best way to avoid being
overthrown is to avoid being hated.