Niccolio Machiavelli's "The Prince"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Niccolio Machiavelli, writing in "The Prince", was not a teacher of evil but rather a revolutionary who may have been the first philosopher to illustrate the maxim that the end justifies the means.The author points out that, throughout this book, Machiavelli observed regimes and empires and by what ways a prince or authority figure could best maintain the realms. The paper relates that his thinking was revolutionary in the sense that he discussed the idea of practicality rather than virtuosity or morality, which he suggested was not possible when it comes to ruling and maintaining an empire. The author explains that to be feared or to be loved is a common theme in the middle to later chapters in Machiavelli's book. The paper concludes that classifying Machiavelli as a teacher of evil would be a terrible misinterpretation of his philosophy, which had the good of a state and its people at the forefront.

From the Paper:

"Machiavelli writes as an adviser, one who has looked at the nature of humans and how they act and gives his advice as to which course of actions will yield the best results. His advice is directed towards the rulers of empires whose job title is that of protecting their states. To achieve the greatest success possible is the goal of every prince and ruler; Machiavelli thus argues that the end is what matters, not necessarily the in between."

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