Playing Dirty - Machiavelli's 'The Prince'

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at Machievelli's "The Prince," and the affect it's mass publication had on the world's impression of European society. The author examines why this work had such an affect, what actually happened, and also looks at the world's fascination with this particular work. The author presents some of the radical ideas presented, including that for the first time, instead of idealizing the prince and his position, Machiavelli looked for what made for effective governance.

From the Paper:

"To begin with, it would seem necessary that an attempt be made to present a basic definition of what idealizing . The concept of an ideal is contestable to be sure, as there are various definitions of what constitutes an ideal determined depending upon whom the question is being asked. It is also possible though, that people may share the same or similar ideals. The ideal may refer to a maxim, an idea, or the qualities of a leader. When an ideal or idealization is mentioned therefore, it is in reference to the assigning of properties of merit or worth to one of the items mentioned above. In regards to Machiavelli, part of the argument of this paper is that what makes him unique as a political writer is that he does not idealize the role of prince in society. With this very general idea of what an ideal or what idealization is, it is now possible to move on to an examination of what the ideal of the prince was prior to Machiavelli s period."

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