Please read Chapters 15-19 of Machiavelli's The Prince (either pp. 84-104 of the Signet edition or at the link below).I did not do a particularly good job explaining Machiavelli to the class. Add a comment or two giving your impressions of Machiavelli. Try to say something that would help another students trying to prepare on essay on Renaissance achievements.
http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/basis/machiavelli-prince.html
13 comments:
In Chapter 18, Machiavelli says that a Prince should appear "merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright," but should also be able to change automatically when he needs to.
Samantha Gacke
I found that Machiavelli brought some new ideas to consider for leaders, especially princes. He pointed out it can be a good thing to be considered cruel, mean, feared, and even hated. With cruelty also comes respect and unity within your people. People like to have a leader with a backbone who stands up for what he believes in. If the leader does not trust in himself, why should his subjects? It is also important to be feared rather than loved. Machiavelli says that the ideal leader is both feared and loved, but since that is nearly impossible to achieve with one man, then it is better to have a leader who is feared rather than loved. The best type of fear is that which does not cause a hatred for the leader but instead respect. This too is hard to come by. Hannibal is a great example of a feared and cruel leader. Many attack his qualities, but Machiavelli defends them: didn't Hannibal have to be this way to keep respect and unity among his troops? Basically Machiavelli is saying that to bring a change in society a leader must stand up for what he believes in, while also doing what is best for his country and people, without fear of the title he will receive as a result of his decisions.
Cherry Kolb
Machiavelli makes it very clear that, while doing something which makes people happy, the Prince will form more his downfall than his glory. Be considered niggardly rather than liberal, because money is an important tool for a Prince and is hard to come by.
This is new thinking; that a person of virtue is not necessarily a good person.
-Derik Haag
Machiavelli basically wrote a guide to rulers explaining how to gain more power and giving the republic fewer problems. His ideals are definately new ideas from a realistic point of view, but not necessarily in a kind, loving way. He must draw his ideas from his conclusions of history.
Megan Marvel
Machiavelli believes that a leader should be more liberal than generous. If you are to generous people will expect to much and you will not ba as strong of a leader. I good leader must be feared instead of loved. If a leader is loved, they will only be loved at first. If a leader is feared, he will be hated at first but will be respected in the end. He also thinks that the characteristics that you would think would make a good leader may not actually be the best for your state. A leader can not be perfect that is unrealistic. He makes you think about what you think a good leader should be like.
Jenny Melland
Within the Prince it tells how it is important to be strong but it is also inportant not to be to strong. It is important in the way that people might think you are too powerful, it is good to have some weaknesses in a prince that way poeple dont take to much advantage of him. The people will also learn not to be to reliant on him as well.
Kristin Bjerke
I think that the meaning to be drawn from this is that it is good to be powerful, but people like leaders who don't seem overbearing. But if a leader seems too weak, then the people take complete advantage of the person. The middle needs to be found for a ruler to be entirely respected for the success of a nation.
Ashley Tanner
Machiavelli debates where it is more important to be liked or to be feared. He decides it's a little of both and you have to have a balance. Also the ruler has to show power and strength because he is looked at as the ruler. However, the ruler has to be respected by his people and beable to be a social person that understands his people
Kody Thompson
I thought that some of the views that Machiavelli presented where very interesting, but it was slightly border line as far as effectiveness. Being a leader and having a way of controlling the people and not being stepped on is truly good qualities for a leader. Being cruel and even feared to get respect has the capability of being effective, however, it could be very easily abused. With too much power and fear, we find rulers in history like Hitler and Stalin. Power comes with responsibility and as much as the general idea is effective, I think in the end it would become something that rulers would abuse.
-Cory Niles
Reading Machiavelli I thought that the whole point of the story was that it is ok to be powerful and have power. What Machiavelli is saying is that you should be faithful and honest, but at the same time you need to have power and show that power at the right moments. He says it's ok to be cruel and forceful because people can look up to him if he takes what he has seriously and does what he needs to do.
Sierra Bruce
Machiavelli says a person is suppose to be liberal; but a prince needs to know how to be liberal successfully in order to be liberal. A prince is suppose to care little about his reputation as being a miser, "this niggardliness is one of those vices which enable him to rein." A prince needs to know his limits. Machiavelli wrote about new ideas for the princes to consider. He wrote about how it can be a good thing to be considered cruel, mean, feared, and hated; but there are also consequences involved with each. It tells how to be more successful in life.
Natasha Doxsee
Machiavelli,
He talks about being liberal, to be liberal is opened minded just like the Democrats in present day. But for a prince to be liberal would most likely saying that I will meet my doom. A prince should have a reputation of being mean and starting wars and putting out taxes to his people. It is easy to read up on people and judge as Machiavelli, but to be put in a strong position as a prince/ruler to have power and be kind and liberal or use your power in a negative way to get people to respect you. I would say being liberal is the way to go, but who knows until they are in that position.
Tyson Peltier
Machiavelli wrote basically a guideline of how a prince should act. Within the reading of the Prince it tells how it is important to be strong but it is also inportant not to be to strong. It is important so that people might think you are too powerful. It is good to have some weaknesses in a prince so that poeple dont take to much power from him. The people will also learn not to be so reliant on him as a prince.
-Rick Schiley-
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