FREE ESSAY ON NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

The Italian Renaissance is known for its birth of many notable philosophers, including the
famous Niccolo Machiavelli. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest political
thinkers to have ever existed, and his ideas and beliefs have been an inspiration and
motivation for many famous leaders. Although he has known to have been a positive
influence on mankind, Machiavelli has also distinguished a bad reputation that has been
unfairly given to him because of a misunderstanding in his views on politics. Since
rulers like Hitler and Mussolini have followed his teachings for obtaining power, society
has unfortunately looked down upon this great philosopher, despite the many things he
introduced to mankind.
Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. Brought up in a relatively poor
family, his parents could not afford to send him to school. Instead, he was educated at
home by his mother, a religious poet, and his father, an attorney. Since little is known
about his early life, not a lot can be found in references about his childhood and
teenage years. It is only known that his family did their best to obtain a respectable
and prominent image, and Niccolo grew up to be a fine, educated, and well-known man. He
attended the University of Florence and studied logic, mathematics, music, astronomy, and
philosophical debate.
Machiavelli's political career took off in 1498 when he was offered a government position
in Florence. He became the secretary and second chancellor of the Florentine Republic.
During this time, he was a civil servant who had many diplomatic and administrative
responsibilities. From 1499 to 1508, he went on many missions where he met many powerful
political figures including Louis XII, the Pope, and Cesar Borgia, a solider and
aristocrat in central Italy. A lot of Machiavelli's philosophy was highly influenced by
other people; meanwhile his own ideas were created about political power and maintaining
government control. One of his major contributions to the city of Florence was persuading
the people to raise its own militia instead of using a mercenary. He was entirely devoted
to the Florentine Republic, and the city was his object of patriotism. In 1512, the
Medici, a Florentine family, reclaimed power in Florence and the republic was thrown
over. Niccolo lost his position as chancellor and was imprisoned after being accused of a
participation in a secret conspiracy. He was tortured and beaten excessively in jail but
then later released upon Giovanni de Medici's election to the papacy. For the next ten
years of his life, he dedicated himself to writing political philosophy, history, poems,
and even plays to express his beliefs about politics and power. These expressions were
all attempts to gain favor of the Medici rulers so that he could someday get his
political position back, and meanwhile he was gaining popularity among people because of
his new and different perspectives for not only government and politics, but in life in
general as well. His most famous work, The Prince, was written in honor of the Medici
family to express his ideals and suggestions for a powerful government. The Medici
noticed him finally in 1525 when the rulers called him back to service. He spent his last
two years of working for them before they overthrew the system again, just before
Machiavelli died on June 20, 1527. 
As a politician, military theorist, historian, playwright, diplomat, and philosopher,
Machiavelli proved to be an incredible contribution to society. Although extremely well
known around the world for his philosophy in politics, he has been seriously
misinterpreted. Since he has incorrectly been viewed as an evil figure to mankind, the
term "Machiavellian" has been developed over the years to describe a person who has no
morals. The term "Machiavellian" usually refers to someone who is untrustworthy,
unprincipled, cunning, sly, and deceitful. Machiavelli had a harsh way of viewing things,
but he had no intention to be an evil intimidation. His pessimistic attitude led him to
express himself more directly and bluntly than anything expected. The fact that he grew
up in the "golden age" of the Italian Renaissance helped him to develop most of his
philosophies because so much was happening around him that he had an opinion about
everything. Although a positive humanist to the world, his demanding and pessimistic
viewpoints led people to believe that he was in fact evil and therefore nothing but a
threat to society. 
Machiavelli stressed POWER. There can be nothing without might. What most of the accepted
ideals consist of today, Machiavelli would most likely strongly oppose. He was one of the
first political philosophers whose political ideas were not influenced by his religious
ideas. According to him, religion is only important when they were necessary in a
political decision. He strongly believed that church tried to separate the world too
much. He even denies the values of life, except for pride. Machiavelli has said, "men
tire of evil, and of good they sicken; men like to be pictured noble, honest, idealistic;
they want to be assured of receiving a reward fro their virtue not only in the hereafter,
but in this life." His complete honesty has frightened people, which is another reason he
may have not been popular with everybody. He was extremely supportive of war and
developed many strategies on how to win, what to do, and how to totally eliminate the
enemy. He believes that war is based on human nature: man is selfish and seeks what he
wants. According to Machiavelli, man is dominated by his passions. One of his beliefs is
that domination is the most powerful of emotional desires. 
Machiavelli believed that religion is important for war because it causes a willingness
to fight. If one can be promised that something good will be of reward for fighting for
one's country (like going to heaven), then that will create motivation. There must be
necessity for war, if not, it is a waste of time. He stressed that leadership in a battle
is a creative activity and that it is the highest aspiration of man. A leader can use any
kind of psychological tricks to defeat the enemy, if he chooses to let his mind do so.
The mind is capable of so much deceit, and it is a necessity to use deceit and force when
on wants something. Machiavelli is famous for saying, "Cunning and deceit will serve a
man better than force to rise from base condition to great fortune." Again, power is the
main objective, and keeping it is the ultimate goal.
Machiavelli's two major works are The Prince and The Discourses. These writings differ
greatly from eachother, but both are about achieving power. The Prince gives advice to a
ruler on how to maintain power, and the word "prince" is purposely used because it
represents a republican political system. The Discourses is more about political
behavior, and a lot of Machiavelli's ideas are written in this book. One of his most
famous quotes is, "As a Prince (political ruler), it is best to be both feared and loved.
But if you have to choose between the two, it is better to be feared than loved." This
quote is a good example of Machiavelli's approach on political affairs. He emphasizes
that rulers should do their best no matter what. Before Machiavelli wrote these books in
which his political ideas were expressed, writer and politics had only been concerned
about how the government should work. Machiavelli was concerned about how it actually
does work-he was definitely a realist. 
Machiavelli held human nature in the highest esteem, and based almost everything he
believed in to that. Private Letters were extremely popular in the Renaissance period,
and a letter was found from Machiavelli to Fracsesco Vettori talking about politics and
human nature. He sets a tone in this letter, and it describes some of his feelings that
he has during the time of his existance.
"Anyone who might see our letters, my dear friend, and might note their diversity would
be very amazed, for at one point he would think that we are very serious men, involved in
weighty matters, and that we never entertained a thought which was not lofty and honest.
But then, turning the page, he would discover that these same serious men are frivolous,
inconstant, lustful, and occupied with trifles. This matter of ours, although to some it
may be disgraceful, seems worthy of praise to me, because we imitate nature, which
herself is various, and anyone who imitates nature cannot be criticizes."
Niccolo Machiavelli made a statement in history. The Italian Renaissance was an era in
history that was full of change. It was full of philosophers and people exploding with
new ideas and ready to revolutionize. Niccolo Machiavelli started a philiosophy that not
only influenced Italy, but influenced the world and leaders everywhere. Whether people
were frightened of him or not, he created a different form of political philosophy that I
used today. Even tough he has been dead for over 450 years, his teachings are still
around, and his name is still in today's society.
WORKS CITED
1. Prezzolini, Giuseppe. Machiavelli. New York; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1967.
2. Collinson, Diane. Fifty Major Philosophers, A Reference Guide. London; Croom Helm Ltd,
1987.
3. Geerars, M. "Rick's Hideout." www.rick_machiavelli.html
4. Scherl, Jimmy. "Machiavelli." www.killenroos.com
5. "Niccolo Machiavelli: Power for Good or Evil." www.letsfindout,com
6. Sloan, John. "Machiavelli On War." www.members.aol.com/johns426/machessy.htm