Nicollo Machiavellli
BIOGRAPHY
Niccolò
di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (Italian: [nikkoˈlɔ
mmakjaˈvɛlli]; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian Renaissance
historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer. He has
often been called the father of modern political science He was for many years
a senior official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in
diplomatic and military affairs. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs, and
poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language. He was
secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512,
when the Medici were out of power. He wrote his most renowned work The
Prince in 1513.
Machiavelli
was born in Florence, Italy, the third child and first son of attorney Bernardo
di Niccolò Machiavelli and his wife, Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli..
The Machiavelli family is believed to be descended from the old marquesses of
Tuscany and to have produced thirteen Florentine Gonfalonieres of Justice, one
of the offices of a group of nine citizens selected by drawing lots every two
months and who formed the government, or Signoria; but he was never a full
citizen of Florence because of the nature of Florentine citizenship in that
time even under the republican regime. Machiavelli married Marietta Corsini in
1502.
The young Niccolò Machiavelli
became a diplomat after the temporary fall of Florence's ruling Medici family
in 1494. He served in that position for 14 years in Italy's Florentine Republic
during the Medici family's exile, during which time he earned a reputation for
deviousness, enjoying shocking his associates by appearing more shameless than
he truly was. After his involvement in an unsuccessful attempt to organize a
Florentine militia against the return of the Medici family to power in 1512
became known, Machiavelli was tortured, jailed and banished from an active role
in political life.
PHILOSOPHY
“Machiavellianism”, an abhorrent type of politics that can be
described in two words - the art of tyranny - whose principles were propagated
in the works of the Florentine, Machiavelli.
"Machiavellianism" is a widely used negative term to
characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort Machiavelli described most
famously in The Prince. Machiavelli described immoral behavior, such as
dishonesty and killing innocents, as being normal and effective in politics. He
even seemed to endorse it in some situations. The book itself gained notoriety
when some readers claimed that the author was teaching evil, and providing
"evil recommendations to tyrants to help them maintain their power. The
term "Machiavellian" is often associated with political deceit,
deviousness, and realpolitik. On the other hand, many commentators, such
as Baruch Spinoza, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Denis Diderot, have argued that
Machiavelli was actually a republican, even when writing The Prince, and
his writings were an inspiration to Enlightenment proponents of modern democratic
political philosophy. In one place for example he noted his admiration for the
selfless Roman dictator Cincinnatus.
Machiavelli wrote The
Prince to serve as a handbook for rulers and the creation of
Machiavellianism, and he claims explicitly throughout the work that he is not
interested in talking about ideal republics or imaginary utopias, as many of
his predecessors had done: “There is such a gap between how one
lives and how one should live that he who neglects what is
being done for what should be done will learn his
destruction rather than his preservation.”
The hard road to the top is
often the best. Machiavelli believed that leaders who inherit their success are
often more likely to fail than self-made people who are forced to learn
important life lessons during their own climbs.
OPINION ON HIS PHILOSOPHY
Many commentators on
Machiavellianism have taken very different approaches to Machiavelli and not
always agreed. Major discussion has tended to be about two issues: first, how
unified and philosophical his work is, and second, concerning how innovative or
traditional it is.
I liked Machiavellianism of
showing the honesty of a leader. It opened a question does a leader needs to be
feared or loved? But since it is difficult for a leader to be both feared and
loved, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two must be
lacking. For this can generally be said of men: that they are ungrateful, fickle,
liars and deceivers, avoiders of danger, greedy for profit; and as long as you
serve their welfare, they are entirely yours, offering you their blood,
possessions, life and children...when the occasion to do so is not in sight;
but when you are faced with it, they turn against you. And that prince who lays
his foundations on their promises alone, finding himself stripped of other
preparations, falls to ruin... For men are less concerned with hurting someone
who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared, because love is held
by a link of obligation which, since men are wretched creatures, is broken
every time their own interests are at stake; but fear is held by a dread of
punishment which will never leave you.
In Machiavellianism, it shows how
a leader would be caring at times or strike as fierce as an animal when
necessary. The leader would be cunning yet honest. The leader would be
tyrannical at times and open to the people. Throughout history, prominent
politicians or leaders unconsciously follow under these standards. But not all
people needs to be a Machiavellian. The lesson that Machiavellianism isn’t
telling good people to be bad, it is telling them to learn from bad people to
maintain power and glory for a nation.