The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

1. Does the Prince present justice as nothing more than the interest of the stronger?
 Not really, Machiavelli's treatise clearly breaks with the western tradition of political
philosophy that preceded it. From Plato and Aristotle, the thinkers of this tradition have
been interested in questions of justice and human happiness, and in the constitution of the
ideal state. Up to the last chapter, The Prince is an incredibly simple manual for rulers
who want to either establish and maintain control of a new state or conquer and control
an existing one. Rather than basing his advice on ethical or philosophical principles,
Machiavelli bases his political program on concrete examples.
2. What constraints on a prince’s freedom of action does Machiavelli recognizes?
 A prince should mainly care about ordinary people. Because there are more commoners
than nobles, their hatred is more dangerous to the stability of the state than the hatred of
the nobles. This constraint is very much present in all of Machiavelli's arguments
regarding the behavior of an efficient prince.
3. Does Machiavelli believe that ethical considerations have a role to play in the conduct of a
prince?
 In my opinion, it is clarified that Machiavelli does not believe that ethics plays a role in
the behavior of leaders. He even warns that ethics can be counterproductive to victory. In
general, Machiavelli believes that honesty has no place in a prince's repertoire of
qualities.
4. Does Machiavelli believe that political entities are created by human effort, or do they exist
naturally?
 In my perspective, He regarded the purpose of his writings as describing the most
effective way of conducting political and military affairs, with the aim of maintaining
stability and prosperity in the world as it really exists. Philosophy, on the other hand, was
seen in Machiavelli's time as an attempt to identify and realize an ideal world.
5. In securing the state, to what extent should a prince be motivated by the happiness of the
people?
 A prince cannot assure to give all the people the happiness that they want but is known to
retain control and interpret the uses of power to assure that the people who hate him can
cannot rise against him.