Niccolo Machiavelli:

Renaissance Political Thinker

One of the most important books of the Renaissance was a small volume called The Prince written by Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). Machiavelli had been a government worker, close to powerful men, but never a leader himself. In this book he offered advice to princes on how to rule. His political philosophy (ideas on government) was startling. It was different from medieval ideas about the proper duties, obligations and policies of good rulers.

Where did Machiavelli get such ideas? Clearly not from the Bible. Nor did they come from the ancient Greek ( Athenian) philosophers who stressed the well-being of the entire community and the rule of law. His best sources were the rulers he observed--Franciesco Sforza, Lorenzo do Medici, and above all, Cesare Borgia. The biographies of these men reveal them to be powerful, tricky, and often dishonest. Some historians question whether or not Machiavelli was really as amoral (without standards of right and wrong) as he sounds. Perhaps he was actually making fun of men like Borgia and exposing the extremes to which they would go to keep themselves in power. Whatever his purpose the adjective "Machiavellian" has come to mean unscrupulous, amoral, tricky, and manipulative.

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Last Five
treasure - Thursday, Sept. 06, 2006
need - Sunday, May. 22, 2005
where is here - Friday, May. 13, 2005
save me. - Monday, May. 09, 2005
nonsense - Sunday, May. 01, 2005

ALL