Machiavelli then retires to a small farm a few miles outside of Florence and begins writing The Prince.
Machiavelli wanted the prince to act as a guide to show how to create a principality and hold onto it because he had remembered how the French were succeeding as they were one principality under one prince and Machiavelli wanted this for Italy.
Machiavelli also wrote the book to again try and ingratiate himself with the Medici family by making the preface a flattering letter to Lorenzo Medici.
The book firstly starts by dividing all governments into two different types, republics- those which are ruled by many, and principalities – those which are ruled by a prince or a single ruler. Machiavelli then quickly dismisses republican governments and goes onto divide Principalities into two types, ones which have been ruled by the same family for centuries (the old prince) and ones, which have been newly conquered (the new prince). Again, Machiavelli tends to dismiss the old prince believing him to be of not much use and will have not much success where as he talks greatly of the new prince and how he can and will acquire and maintain the greatest amount of power.
Throughout Machiavelli’s book he regards the association between luck and skill in the gaining and keeping of the power the prince has received. He presents two key terms: Fortuna, meaning by luck or chance and virtu, meaning the person’s skill and ability etc. Machiavelli tries to convey that for a prince to remain in power successfully he needs to rely on virtu rather than fortuna. He believed the more cunning and determined you are to stay in power and gain more, the more likely to you were to succeed and this is why Machievelli admired Cesare Borgia as he was willing to do anything he needed to in order for him to achieve what he wanted.
Machievelli describes virtues as qualities in a person that a praised by others these can be things such as generosity and compassion etc. He states that a prince should always try to appear virtuous although by acting virtuously for virtue’s sake can prove to be damaging to the principality. A prince shouldn’t always avoid things such as cruelty or dishonesty if he thinks they are beneficial to the state but they should not be pursued just for their own sake just as virtue shouldn’t. Every action a prince chooses to make should be considered firstly as to how it will affect the state and not just for it’s moral value.
Machiavelli’s conception of virtue is quite different to those of earlier theorists such as Aristotle. He defined virtue as being related to something good where as Machiavelli defines it more simply as something the receives praise from others,
therefore, both cruelty and generosity can be virtue’s if they are both praised by others.
Machiavelli said that a prince is able to learn to become virtuous by simply looking at the study of warfare and how people are able to win battle through planning and strategy rather than by luck, he also says princes can learn a lot from past rulers who have both succeeded and failed as he to learn from their mistakes and gain knowledge from their success’s.
Machiavelli states that anyone may hold a fortune but if you are virtuous you are more likely to exploit and master a fortune whether you already possess one or not as you are much more likely to gain one if you are virtuous. Machiavelli looks upon fortune as a woman, which must be dominated and controlled so that a prince is able to maintain it. “ So it is with fortune, she shows her potency where there is no well-regulated power to resist her, and her impetus is felt where she knows there are no embankments and dykes built to restrain her.” (Chapter XXV, p.79, penguin classics).
Machiavelli believed that although we cannot control fortune we are able to use our ingenuity to be prepared for what it brings. He states that it would be foolish for a prince to base all his power entirely on fortune and this prince would not be able to hold onto the power once his fortune changes and the man who skilfully handles fortune will prosper as he will be prepared for it’s changes. Machiavelli’s crucial point is that a prince must be willing to adapt to fortune and be able to alter his behaviour with skill in order to exploit circumstances showing that an action which proves to be a success on one day may not be a success on the next because the circumstances have changed. This is why throughout Machiavelli’s book he is unwilling to give strict rules on how a prince should behave because a prince that he taken Machiavelli’s advice would be willing to break them if necessary and be able to act quickly and boldly when needed to, again Machiavelli had much admiration for Pope Julies II because he was always able to succeed in his accomplishments by acting as swiftly as possible.
Machiavelli holds the complete opposite views on fortune to Christianity at the time of writing this book as they state the a good ruler should avoid all glories and wealth in this life and that he will received his rewards in the next, however it seems obvous to Machiavelli that in the life men compete over glory and riches therefore if you want to gain power or remain in it then you will have to compete for glory and riches too.
Overall Machiavelli believed that both virtu and fortuna are characteristics which needed in order to be a successful prince because virtu is needed to control the fortuna and fortuna is needed to help you stay in power but you shouldn’t rely on it completely. For example, the sea is much more powerful than boat, so it would be better for us to work and building a good boat rather than to sit and shout at the waves. However, when the sea becomes calm it is harmless to our boat but when it is in full fury it cannot be overcome. So by making our ship strong, it is able to protect us from the dangers of the sea and carry us far when the winds are favourable.
The Prince is a very practical and clever book as it does not tell its reader what an ideal prince or principality is but it simply explains what actions and qualities have enabled past princes to best rule a principality. And also the book has visions of wanting to unite Italy, which is an idea 350 years ahead of its time. When Machiavelli wrote this book it was write for the time as there were frequent wars and some advice on the art of war was needed. Even though, in many cases, Machiavelli’s the Prince is still relevant today particularly in government, as if you want to succeed and gain power in it, you need to be ruthless and corrupted.
Bibliography
Machiavelli, N. (2003) The Prince. London: Penguin Group
Solomon, R, C., Higgins, K, M., (1996). A short history of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Skinner, Q. (2000) Machiavelli – A very short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- another translation of The Prince.
“Machiavelli, Niccolo”. Microsoft Encarta 99 Encyclopedia.
