Machiavelli’s “The Prince” Lesson

Michele Carretti
“The End Justifies the Means”
A statement summarizing the Macchiavelli’s thought even
though it does not appear in any of his works

Meaning: Immoral actions justify morally right

outcomes
 The Author

• Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

(3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) Italian philosopher, humanist,
and writer during the Renaissance

• Founder of modern political science

• “Machiavellian”: something or someone extremely genial and

unscrupulous
 “The Prince”
•One of the most famous political treatise

•A manual containing instructions to gain and

maintain a principality

•It was included in the “List of Prohibited Books” by the

Catholic Church

•It is preceded by the work “Discourses on Livy”, about the

Republic
 The qualities of the ideal prince
• Knowledge of history (the events recur cyclically)
• Dreaded rather than loved (fear is a feeling
stronger than gratitude)
• Prudence

• No qualms about lying shamelessly and repeatedly

• Ability to use violence when necessary (in a

single stroke)
 The intention
There is a great controversy about the aims of Machiavelli:

• Some scholars sustain the theory of the “oblique intention”:

a way to unveil and make the people aware about the
misdeeds of rulers
• Another hypothesis is the “opportunism”:
the booklet was directed to the duke Lorenzo de’ Medici in
order to regain a prestigious office
 Bibliography:
• Cahn, Steven M. 2005. “Political Philosophy. The
Essential Texts.” New York : Oxford University Press .
• Machiavelli, Niccolò. 1997. “The prince”. Cambridge :
Cambridge University Press
• Patapan, Haig. 2006. “Machiavelli in love, the
modern politics of love and fear “. Lanham, Md. :
Lexington Books
Thank you for your attention