ThePhilosophyCenter: Political Philosophy: Machiavellism

 Hello!

Following the Fall of Western Rome in 476, the Middle Ages set in. Most philosophies during the era that followed were some sort of Aristotelianism, which we have covered with our Medieval Aristotelianism episode. Thus, we will immideately enter the 1500s with the philosophy of a very influential man: Machiavelli. But who is Machiavelli?


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CHARACTER PROFILE: NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

Born: 1469, Florence, Italy.

Died: 1527, Florence, Italy.

Works: Prince by Machiavelli. Discourses on Livy by Machiavelli.

Ideas: Machiavellism, End Justifies the Means

Text Intro: Not much people in history has such a large impact on modern day politics and diplomatic dynamics as Machiavelli. Yet, Machiavelli did not start a war, nor did he rule a nation. How could a mere philosopher change so much? His political philosophy was extremely popular and has become a basis for a lot of decisions throughout history, whether it is a decision about business, politics, government, or management. He was a Florentine man who oversaw the reign of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who inspired his philosophy.

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Machiavelli's philosophy will be referred to as "Machiavellism" today. Machiavelli tried to give his advice in ruling and leadership, especially of a nation. Much of his philosophy is seen in the book "The Prince". The Prince is very immoral, putting aside moral values and prioritizing practical but ruthless advice to a ruler. Machiavelli believed Christian morals (the dominant religion at the time) should be set aside if it gets in the way of political success and manuevers. 

Machiavelli believed that the end justified the means. The meaning of this proposition is that if the result ("the end") was good enough, the process to attain said result ("the means"), however moral or immoral it is, is good ("justified"). Let's say a ruler has the oppurtunity to sabotage their enemy and in the process kill hundreds of thousands of enemy people. If a ruler believes he should sabotage his enemy, he believes that the end justifies the means. The result's goodness is often measured as "goodness for the country". Machiavelli believed the end justified the means, but not at all cases - there were some cases he believed you should take another route.

This is because, according to Machiavellism, the ruler of a state should guard the success of his/her state as the most important thing. He/she needs to secure his/her own glory and his/her's state's sucess. And morality often goes in the way. Machiavelli commands the leader to break morality for the success of the state. 

Machiavelli's philosophy's influence is indebatable, but is it true? Well, no, because it places the success of a nation (or business, group, or corporation) as the "logos" - the god and the supreme thing. However, that is not true. In a way, you could say Machiavellism is a religion where the god is a nation or government.

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