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Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

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Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince
Being “Machiavellian” is considered being pessimistic, cruel, and unvirtuous. While many history scholars claim that the label has gained a better association over the years, others believe that it still has the same bad meaning. The Prince, by Niccoló Machiavelli, provides many examples as to how the term, “Machiavellian”, has a negative connotation. To begin with, a Machiavellian person is merciless and harsh. In The Prince, Machiavelli advises leaders to decide who they need to injure. If they do so, they must make sure that they do not receive revenge. He is literally telling his readers that it is okay to hurt others, as long as they do not get hurt themselves. This is an extremely cruel and atrocious thing to instruct someone to do. Along with injuring people, Machiavelli believes that it is okay to murder others so long as the murderer does not fear death himself. While this is not …show more content…
This means that they do not conform to moral and ethical principles. Machiavelli explains what it means to be immoral in a few simple examples. First, he shows that a prince will only be able to keep his rule if he is unvirtuous. Machiavelli is actually advising leaders to be unscrupulous and villainous in order to maintain their power within a state. Next, he explains why a prince is allowed to dishonor his word if it works to his disadvantage. This is completely wrong; a leader should keep his word no matter what, even if it gets him in trouble. The people will see that he is an honest and unabiding man, and they will respect him for that. Lastly, Machiavelli points out that a prince should create resistance only to turn around and resolve it. This way, he will look like a strong, dependable man to his citizens. But creating problems within a state, just to look good to the people? That is absolutely untrustworthy and downright wrong. This just goes to show how ill-advised Niccoló Machiavelli really
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