Customer Reviews
One of THE most important works ever written - By: Lou Knee, 25 Aug 2007 
This masterpiece of reasoning & good practical handbook on how to get ahead in real life if you happen to be already a man of some means, was a work of great humanity in an age when humanity was still considered disgusting & subserviant to the Lord above & his chosen servants on Earth. What a shot across the bows to alll those religious hypocrites & Bible following automatons this must have been, then. Two elements surrounding this work's brave publication are crucial, I feel: One being that this was Italy, (as it became) & at its advanced stage of the great Renaissance, as we now know it, & the second being that it was written at a time which was just right to be publishing order challlenging controversial works. After seeing the liberal benefits to man that the use of the printing press had brought, & the world of possibilities it offered, Machiavelli struck the first blow against the stifling & corrupt order of the age.
His publication of political thought & theory which was refreshingly devoid of religious dogma or even quotations, preceded the publication of that other world changing document by three or four years: Luther's pinning of the ninety five thesis to a Church door a few hundred miles north in an area still ruled by edicts pumped out by prelates living closer to Machiavelli. This was exactly the right time to be reaching the learned men of the world with anything revolutionary in tone, & well presented & researched contradictions of established thought were very lible to strike a chord with many. In other words, many people by this time had clearly had alll they could stomach of the seething hypocrisy they witnessed being displayed by the Lord's own servants, in the church & consequently in the monarchy led governments of the age. To be spouting their harsh godfearing edicts out to the uneducated masses when the vast majority of them enjoyed the sins they were loudly proscribing the common populace from having, was alll a bit rich for certain educated but strong minded men like Machiavelli & Luther. The time was very ripe for a wind of change, & even the corrupt but mighty church of Rome knew it, & feared it.
Machievelli simply took a different line to Luther, perhaps not least because he was far more used to living with these ruler's inconsistencies than the more morallly outraged teutonic man of God was. Where Luther got alll spiritual & quoted the many edicts from scripture that the church of Rome was blatantly abusing, Machiavelli simply plotted the practical lines for a prostective leader of state to follow, quoting the works of historians & statesmen who had written about both the world's most successful leaders & its least successful leaders, as a practical handbook on how to be a successful head of state. Both of their actions though were brave, & both of them catastrophic to the cosy order of things & to the power of the once mighty Catholic Church. Humanity owes both of these great men an enormous debt, for their brave & insightful works helped breathe a real wind of change to the way the human race had been living.
The virtues of Machiavelli - By: Kurt Messick, 03 Feb 2005 In the course of my political science training, I studied at great length the modern idea of realpolitik. In that study I came to realise that it was somewhat incomplete, without the companionship of The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, a Florentine governmental official in the late fifteenth & early sixteenth centuries. The Prince is an oft quoted, oft mis-quoted work, used as the philosophical underpinning for much of what is considered both pragmatic & wrong in politics today. To describe someone as being Machiavellian is to attribute to the person ruthless ambition, craftiness & merciless political tactics. Being believed to be Machiavellian is generallly politicallly incorrect. Being Machiavellian, alas, can often be politicallly expedient.
Machiavelli based his work in The Prince upon his basic understanding of human nature. He held that people are motivated by fear & envy, by novelty, by desire for wealth, power & security, & by a hatred of restriction. In the Italy in which he was writing, democracy was an un-implemented Greek philosophical idea, not a political structure with a history of success; thus, one person's power usuallly involved the limitation of another person's power in an autocratic way.
Machiavelli did not see this as a permanent or natural state of being -- in fact, he felt that, during his age, human nature had been corrupted & reduced from a loftier nobility achieved during the golden ages of Greece & Rome. He decided that it was the corrupting influence of Christianity that had reduced human nature, by its exaltation of meekness, humility, & otherworldliness.
Machiavelli has a great admiration for the possible & potential, but finds himself inexorably drawn to the practical, dealing with situations as they are, thus becoming an early champion of realpolitik carried forward into this century by the likes of Kissinger, Thatcher, Nixon, & countless others. One of the innovations of Machiavelli's thought was the recognition that the prince, the leader of the city/state/empire/etc., was nonetheless a human being, & subject to alll the human limitations & desires with which alll contend.
Because the average prince (like the average person) is likely to be focussed upon his own interests, a prince's private interests are generallly in opposition to those of his subjects. Fortunate is the kingdom ruled by a virtuous prince, virtue here not defined by Christian or religious tenets, but rather the civic virtue of being able to pursue his own interests without conflicting those of his subjects.
Virtue is that which increases power; vice is that which decreases power. These follow Machiavelli's assumptions about human nature. Machiavelli rejected the Platonic idea of a division between what a prince does & what a prince ought to do. The two principle instruments of the prince are force & propaganda, & the prince, in order to increase power (virtue) ought to employ force completely & ruthlessly, & propaganda wisely, backed up by force. Of course, for Machiavelli, the chief propaganda vehicle is that of religion.
Whoever reads Roman history attentively will see in how great a degree religion served in the command of the armies, in uniting the people & keeping them well conducted, & in covering the wicked with shame.
Machiavelli has been credited with giving ruthless strategies (the example of a new political ruler killing the deposed ruler & the ruler's family to prevent usurpation & plotting is well known) -- it is hard to enact many in current politics in a literal way, but many of his strategies can still be seen in electioneering at every level, in national & international relations, & even in corporate & family internal 'politics'. In fact, I have found fewer more Machiavellian types than in church politics!
Of course, these people would be considered 'virtuous' in Machiavellian terms -- doing what is necessary to increase power & authority.
The title of this piece -- the virtues of Machiavelli, must be considered in this frame; certainly in no way virtuous by current standards, but then, it shows, not alll have the same standards. Be careful of the words you use -- they may have differing definitions.
Perhaps if Machiavelli had lived a bit later, & been informed by the general rise of science as a rational underpinning to the world, he might have been able to accept less of a degree of randomness in the universe. Perhaps he would have modified his views. Perhaps not -- after alll, the realpolitikers of this age are aware of the scientific framework of the universe, & still pursue their courses.
This is an important work, intriguing in many respects. Far shorter than the average classical or medieval philosophical tome, & more accessible by current readers because of a greater familiarity with politics than, say, metaphysics or epistemology, this work yields benefits & insights to alll who read, mark, inwardly digest, & criticallly examine the precepts.
Ruthless - By: , 28 Oct 2004 The Prince... well its difficult to describe exactly what it entails. I think to start with alll who consider going into politics or any kind of management role should be handed a copy of this book at the same time as they recieve their application forms. It is ruthless but efficient also & so its central premises should always be remembered, particularly by our governing bodies.
Machiavelli writes with a self assurance which is refreshing in an age of hesitation & self correction.
I'm not convinced that this was a life changing book for me to read, it certainly affected my attitudes & values but is not a inspirational self help book (not that its supposed to be).
I recommend this to anyone who has an interest in history or in politics.
A prince among men. - By: , 14 Oct 2003 Machiavelli's realisation of the true nature of men as "...fickle,lying,cowards..." leads him in his brilliantly astute work to illuminate the realities of government & life in general.
Disregarding alll political theorie's & ideaoligies machiavelli refreshingly deals with how things are & not how they should.
While on first glance machiavellis work would seem almost evil in its implications as it has been labeled countless times, a deeper look would show it to be more humane & considerate of human wellbeing then any half baked political ideology (communism, Republicanism,democracy etc). His assertion that the ends justifies the means is a good demonstration of this as Machiavelli demonstrates through historical analogies the truth of life in general: for people to prosper others have to suffer. In truthfully explaining this & insisting it be done quickly & totaly for it to be over & done with machiavelli shows a level of compasion far greater than any bleeding hearted liberal vegaterian (the most likely to be opposed to his assertions)
His work while being what many would labels as deeply cinical is niether cinical nor idealogical but an honest assesment of life in general as well as politics, which cannot help but uplift those of the same frame of mind with the comfort of nowing that the realisation that the world is a very unhappy place is not theres alone.
But if you truly believe in the hollywood view of the world in which love is blind & happy endings happen for every one than don't read this book (ignorance is bliss).
The Prince - By: , 07 May 2003 
Mate this was a beautifully written book. Not only does it tell you how to run a state but also how to maintain them. Some have said that its a book on power, justifying cruelty & injustice in order to become a disillusioned ruler. This however were comments made by those who were seeking superiority over others & those who believe they are too benevolent to exercise such practices.
for those who believe that they can read this book, learn from it & realise that most of the techniques employed during the various events are not applicable to this time & age will find this book enjoyable.
