The Prince Machiavelli Summary - 1016 Words

In his article Morality and Politics with Reference to Machaiavelli’s The Prince, Mohammed Seid Ali dissects Machiavelli’s The Prince by analyzing his tactics and applying them to real life situations, both historical and theoretical. Ali highlights the impact of The Prince, its realist ideals, and how they have affected the world’s most powerful institutions. While Ali agrees with many of the underlying principles of Machiavelli, he rebuts specific notions more than once. For example, Ali questions the practicality of Machiavelli’s inherent distrust of diplomacy. Furthermore, Ali disagrees with Machiavelli’s ideas on neutrality and alignment. Ali also doubts Machiavelli’s understanding of international relations, citing his pessimism†¦show more content†¦In The Prince, Machiavelli states, â€Å"A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war.† Ali argues that Machiavelliâ⠂¬â„¢s ideologies concerning war are severely outdated, and completely impractical in today’s society. In doing so, Ali references two schools of thought; the realist and the idealist. In the time of Machiavelli, factions regularly fought for land or pride, and the world was nowhere near as diplomatic as it is today. Singular familial dynasties ran entire countries, the Roman Catholic church had military might, and regicide plagued all of Europe. While morbid, this was the reality of Machiavelli’s time. Today, however, in a more ideal world, diplomacy takes precedence over war essentially everywhere on earth. Moreover, in today’s society, war is seen as a human failure, in contrast to the relative glorification of war 500 years ago. Ali further explains his reasoning, arguing that, â€Å"...though the predominant practice of the existing international system lies on maintaining global hegemony which is highly Machiavellian in its nature, the other alternative which is founded on political idealism is also gaining momentum since it lies on mutual global interdependence among different actors, global diplomacy and institutional frameworks as foundations as well as viable options to tackle a zero sum game internationalShow MoreRelatedSummary On Niccolo Machiavelli s The Prince 1109 Words   |  5 PagesApril 19, 2015 Niccolà ² Machiavelli’s The Prince and Ian Johnston’s Lecture on Machiavelli’s The Prince Niccolà ² Machiavelli, a Florentine, lived between the years of 1469-1527. In 1513, Machiavelli wrote The Prince and gifted it to the Medici family with the original title of About Principalities. He first dedicated the work to Giuliano de’ Medici and later to Lorenzo de’ Medici. It was a political critique that was later printed under the title of The Prince in 1532. The treatise was controversialRead MoreThe Prince Machiavelli Analysis1490 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout The Prince, Machiavelli advocates for the use of force to achieve the Prince’s goals. However, these acts are justified because they are done to benefit the state. Moreover, Machiavelli’s political philosophy repetitively stresses the fact that the Prince should not act in a way as to cause hatred. In this, constant cruelty is inappropriate and unjustifiable because it provokes contempt towards the ruler. In The Prince, Machiavelli discerns that good acts of cruelties â€Å"are c arried outRead MoreBook Review: The Prince Essay1014 Words   |  5 Pageshistory novel and write a book review on it. 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John Locke wrote the Second Treatise on Government where his main issue concerns the relationship of people to their government and where the lines are drawn on what the government can do that is acceptable. Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince, in which he argues that people are naturally immoral and will do what they can, whether good or bad, to maintain well-liked. In The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the main argument is that humans are rational andRead MoreThe Origin Of Modern Political Thought1935 Words   |  8 Pagesis false. The origin of modern political thought was, in fact, introduced to the world during the time of the renaissance. In the Italian city of Florence lived the political philosopher Niccolà ² Machiavelli, who is the man responsible for shaping the view of modern political thought. Noccolà ² Machiavelli was born May 3, 1469 in the Tuscan town of Florence. Florence was a major town in the Tuscan areas during the 12th century. By the time the renaissance came around during the 13th century, FlorenceRead MoreAnalysis Of The Prince By Niccolo Machiavelli1755 Words   |  8 PagesNiccolo Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince† provides guidelines for how the leader of a state should conduct himself, and the actions he should take to consolidate and maintain power. While Socrates does not explicitly discuss what he believes a good leader should do and how he should act in either â€Å"Apology† or †Crito†, he presents his opinion on how men in general should conduct themselves, and how a government should be run. Based on the accounts given, Socrates would vehemently disagree with Machiavelli’sRead MorePolitical Morality And Leadership Lessons2220 Words   |  9 Pagesexample of this dualism is represented in the leadership lessons covered by Cicero, on the one hand, and Machiavelli on the other. Whereas their lessons are fundamentally divergent in many regards, there are some subtle points of implicit convergence. The purpose of this essay is to assess with a comparison and contract of the lessons as found by the assigned writings of Cicero and Machiavelli. Both of these books providers time-tested theories and assertions that have been used to obtain and sustainRead MoreMacbeth And The Prince By Niccolo Machiavelli1801 Words   |  8 PagesMacbeth and The Prince Niccolà ² Machiavelli describes the actions and qualities of a glorious prince in his novel The Prince. His assertion about a leader for a country can be used to evaluate Macbeth as a king in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Macbeth took similar actions and had similar qualities of the ideal prince that Machiavelli characterizes. In light of reading Macbeth, the conclusion can be made that Machiavelli is wrong in the case of Macbeth because he is not a noble or memorable leader