Per The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli shrewdly outlines the strategies that a ruler must follow puro maintain his position and govern his state. With per clear and direct authorial voice, Machiavelli employs ancient and contemporary examples sicuro illustrate the pragmatic tactics of successful leaders. Dedicating his book sicuro the Florentine ruler Lorenzo de Medici , Machiavelli draws heavily on his own political experience puro support his exceedingly realistic views on human nature and the techniques of able rulers. The Prince explores the careful balance between contrasts, comparing virtue and sostituto, prowess and fortune, and subjects and rulers.
At the start of the treatise Machiavelli asks Lorenzo puro accept The Prince as verso “token of my devotion,” stating that his “long acquaintance” with political affairs and “continuous study of the ancient world ” inform his writing. Sopra the first chapters Machiavelli outlines the scope of The Prince , declaring his focus on the various types of princes and principalities. Arguing that new principalities pose greater difficulties than hereditary states, Machiavelli segues into a colloque of composite principalities, durante which new states form an “appendage to an old state.” Within this context, Machiavelli raises the guiding principals of The Prince , encouraging rulers onesto cultivate the “goodwill” of the people and esatto study the art of warfare. Machiavelli urges princes puro approach political disorders like ” per wasting disease ,” taking care to diagnose and treat them quickly and resolutely.
Machiavelli concludes by imploring Lorenzo onesto use the lessons of The Prince preciso unify war-torn Italy and thus reclaim the grandeur of Ancient Rome
Citing Cyrus and Romulus , Machiavelli turns to a dialogue of prowess, imploring “prudent” rulers esatto follow the examples of “great men.” Machiavelli writes that men who become rulers by prowess “gain their principalities with difficulty but hold them with ease.” Conversely, those who gain power through fortune become rulers easily but maintain their position “only by considerable exertion.” Naming Cesare Borgia as per contemporary ruler who gained his condizione through fortune, Machiavelli praises the “strong foundations” that Borgia laid for his future but laments “the extraordinary lds planet and inordinate malice of fortune” that eventually ruined the unlucky duke.
Machiavelli di nuovo foundations, “good laws and good arms.” However, Machiavelli places an emphasis on good arms, explaining that good laws “inevitably follow” from military might. Machiavelli warns rulers onesto avoid the use of mercenary and auxiliary troops, on which he blames “the present ruin of Italy” and the earlier downfall of the Roman Empire. According esatto Machiavelli, “The first way puro lose your state is preciso neglect the art of war,” and he encourages princes sicuro study warfare con peacetime so that they may “reap the profit in times of adversity.”
While laying out his guidelines for a prince’s moral conduct, Machiavelli blurs the traditional border between virtue and vice. Machiavelli argues that verso prince must adhere to verso unique norma of morality, often acting “in defiance of good faith, of charity, of kindness, [and] of religion” per order sicuro safeguard his state. The challenges of governance require rulers puro reverse the general relationship between virtues and vices, although Machiavelli encourages clever princes onesto maintain the appearance of virtue. ” Above all else, verso prince must “escape being hated” by his people, which he can accomplish if he does not rob his subjects of their property. Machiavelli urges rulers sicuro maintain per “flexible disposition,” mimicking the behavior of the fox and the lion onesto secure their position.
On the question of “whether it is better puro be loved than feared,” Machiavelli asserts that it is preferable onesto be feared if the prince cannot “be both the one and the other
Addressing the distinction between prowess and fortune, Machiavelli contends that fortune controls half of human affairs, leaving the other half puro free will. Machiavelli advises princes onesto “take precautions” against the “malice of fortune,” using prowess preciso prepare for unpredictability. Turning preciso contemporary Italy, Machiavelli blames the weakness of its states on the political shortcomings of its rulers.