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Machiavelli: The Prudent Man In The New Prince

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Machiavelli: The Prudent Man In The New Prince
Machiavelli teaching upholds the “prudent” man as the New Prince who, through the extensive study and imitation of history, acquires the adaptive skill necessary to combat the destructive unpredictability of life, virtù. Machiavelli deprecates all notions of hereditary based principalities as well as glory attained by fortune, giving higher esteem to those achieving it by their own guile. Machiavelli diminishes the religious context, instead associating virtù with the physical and mental capacity to create new circumstances. By applying this skill with the knowledge of history, the New Prince can read into the future, thereby blazing their path to worldly glory.
In the Prince, Machiavelli focuses on developing virtù as an adaptive skill stating, that a prudent man should “imitate those who have been most excellent” so that he may come close to their greatness. (Mach 92) Machiavelli defines the relationship between fortune and virtù claiming, a great ruler should reap nothing from it but an “opportunity” seized to impose their desired forms upon it, dismissing all suggestions of luck. (Mach 93) Machiavelli places a rift between religious doctrine and virtù claiming, “all armed prophets were victorious” because when disbelief arose it …show more content…
However Machiavelli disqualifies this idea stating, though a man like this is not uncommon, when one is found he is unable to persuade others because “men are accustomed to living one way, and they do not want to change.” (Mach 227) Machiavelli’s meaning of virtù serves as the basis of recovery for lost political potential by simply uncovering it. By presenting history as an application that, with the right skill, can be imitated and amended to suit present situations, Machiavelli successfully reveals the key to worldly glory however; the retrieval of that worldly glory requires the collective effort of prudent
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