Free Essays on Machiavelli to Get Inspired & Learn by Example

Niccolo Machiavelli belonged to an impoverished family who came from among the urban nobility and played at one time a role in the political life of the Florentine republic.
His father was a lawyer, family income was modest and did not allow the young Niccolo university education. But growing up in the circle of the Florentine humanist intellectuals, he learned Latin well enough to freely read ancient authors. From a young age the predominant interest in politics, in modern political life defined the range of his reading - primarily works of historians of classical antiquity.
In the political arena Continue reading...

The Main Features of the Philosophical Soul: Plato vs. Machiavelli

Introduction
The concept of the soul and the characteristics of a ruler differ from the early time philosophers. The view of Plato into the aspect of the soul differs from how Machiavelli views it and how they both expect a leader to act and handle different situations. As such, these differences continue to attract different scholars who seek to understand the ideal character of a leader or ruler. In this case, the writer explains why it is better to have the form of leadership advocated by Machiavelli. In this perspective, Plato highlights three main traits that a soul should Continue reading...

Different philosophers approached the concept of governance from specific angles. Specifically, Niccolò Machiavelli approaches this topic from the practical and cynical standpoint by implying, “any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good” (Machiavelli and Marriott 38). This statement can be interpreted as a recommendation to the leaders to refrain from good deeds in an intention to execute excellence. As Machiavelli considers, the majority of people are far from being good or are able to manifest excellence. Consequently, an individual, who managed to achieve a high level of moral excellence, will become a threat to others. Machiavelli advises the leaders to learn how not to be good and use knowledge only when it is required in order to retain authority (Machiavelli and Marriott 38). Machiavelli has a cynical approach to governance by claiming that good people usually lose to the wicked ones, as their methods and abilities are limited. According to this approach, bad people have a huge advantage over the good ones since they are able to do whatever it takes to attain their goals.

Continue reading...

“It is not unknown to me how many men have had, and still have, the opinion that the affairs of the world are in such wise governed by fortune and by God that men with their wisdom cannot direct them and that no one can even help them; and because of this they would have us believe that it is not necessary to labor much in affairs, but to let chance govern themNevertheless, not to extinguish our free will, I hold it to be true that Fortune is the arbiter of one-half of our actions, but that she still Continue reading...

Development of philosophical thought is determined by the current historical realities, which represent the basic concepts of political doctrines of individual authors. In this paper, we try to create a single chain of three fundamental concepts of political philosophers Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. By means of recourse to history, we will try to show what events in the political life of Italy and England was the basis for the individual items of the above philosophies thinkers. An analysis of what the early ideas about the concept of the state, about its structure, the rights of citizens and the Continue reading...

The main message of the book The Prince is that the politics should be considered separately from religion and ethics. Additionally, Machiavelli states that in order to achieve the intentions of one ruler, two things can be used: law and force. Since the law is attributed to people and force to animals, the rules can use both."Therefore it is necessary for a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and the man" (Machiavelli, 69). Machiavelli wanted to say that the mastery of ruling should be based on the balance of antithesis in a real life. Continue reading...

Introduction

The monarchy is a form of government in which the supreme state power is partially or wholly owned by one person - the monarch (king, king, emperor, prince, duke, archduke, sultan, emir, khan, pharaoh, and so on) and, as a rule, passed inherited.

The main features of the classical forms of government are:

the existence of the sole head of state exercises its power for life (king, king, emperor, Shah);
usually hereditary (according to custom or law) the order of succession of the supreme power;
monarch represents the unity of the nation, the historical continuity of tradition, represents the state in the international arena;
legal immunity and independence of Continue reading...

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in the early 16th century, c. 1513 and was dedicated to Duke Lorenzo de’Medici of Florence, who had recently taken power (Holler 2). It is believed by some to have actually been inspired in part by Ceasare Borgia in his quest to conquer lands for a kingdom of his own. At this time in history, Italy was divided into several kingdoms or principalities, each ruled by a different family. Machiavelli who had worked as a government official and who had also visited France wrote The Prince, as a guide for the effective rule of Continue reading...

<Student Name>
<Name and Section # of course>
<Instructor Name>

Leadership is a vast term with several meanings, and it has a diverse approach. Yet the basic definition of the word is the ability of a person or a group of people to lead another group of people, an organization or any team and to take responsibility for leading them as well. A leader is a person who takes a stand in times of crisis, chaos, and trouble, and he takes an initiative that others follow along with him. Leadership is an idealistic characteristic that unlike other Continue reading...

In 1513, Machiavelli wrote a masterpiece namely ‘The Prince’ which remained a center of the debate for several centuries. The main crux of the book is about the ideal qualities of a successful political leader of getting and maintaining the power.
According to Machiavelli, a successful leader is one who may not possess all the ideal qualities of leadership but he should act as he possesses all of them. Appearance is the biggest art that a successful leader is able to present in front of his kingdom. As stated in the book: ‘a prince will be fortunate who adjusts Continue reading...

‘BRUTUS. What means this shouting? I do fear the people Choose Caesar for their king.
CASSIUS. Ay, do you fear it? Then must I think you would not have it so.

This would be an example of civil principality where Machiavelli speaks of becoming a prince yet not using force or wickedness. Stating ‘what you need to become a civil prince is just una astuzia fortunata = a fortunate or happy or lucky cleverness or astuteness.’ Caesar has the support of the people to become the ruler. Caesar conveys the idea that ‘a prince can’t satisfy the nobles without Continue reading...

At the end of Shakespeare’s Richard II, newly crowned King Henry feels guilty for instigating the death of Richard, and promises to take a pilgrimage to Jerusalem as penance, to cleanse his consciousness of being involved in the murder. However, it is clear that Henry IV is a ruthless and pragmatic Machiavellian ruler, and is willing to do whatever it takes to become king and consolidate his power. Richard II, on the other hand, is a weak and indecisive leader. He is politically unsophisticated, alienates his allies, ignores counsel, abuses his power, and leaves his kingdom for Ireland Continue reading...

Abbott, Philip. "What Can We Learn From Shakespeare About 'Bad' Leaders?" Journal of Leadership Studies 3.4 (2010): 102-07. JSTOR. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
This article delves into the leadership qualities as presented in William Shakespeare's Richard III.  What qualities did Richard have that made him a so-called "bad" leader?  Consider that Richard's tyrannical actions may have been necessary to become a successful although temporary leader.  We can explore the comparison of Richard's leadership qualities with what Machiavelli considered successful leadership.  Did Richard embody those leadership qualities or did he deviate from them?
Machiavelli, Nicolo. "The Prince." Trans. W.K. Continue reading...

Complete Name of Professor

In The Mandrake, Machiavelli writes in his introduction: “The prince may be viewed as a grand tragedy, offering a tragic view of the same world of which the Mandragola is the comedy.” Machiavelli’s intention behind is probably to imply that the “Prince’s” story is common among people across cultures: a love-sick young man who gets attracted to a beautiful lady regardless of the limiting situations. In the story, Callimaco, who is disguised as The Price, took all the initiative to take Lucrezia despite that fact that she is married. That attempt alone can be unanimously deduced to Continue reading...