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Morality and the Renaissance Idea of the State in Machiavelli's "The Prince"
Essay Instructions:
Machiavelli’s The Prince, Jean Bodin’s Six books of the Republic, and other key texts, provide characterizations of how states function, both ideally and realistically. Do they portray the state as moral or immoral? Are the texts similar in their views? What separates them? Does humanism play a role in the idea of the state and the question or morality? If so, how?
You don’t have to answer all of these questions, but you do have to make an original argument about morality and state from a close reading of the texts—the primary sources—backed up by the textbook and the introductory material in Connell’s edition of The Prince—there is a lot of rich primary and secondary material in there that you will want to draw on. Stick a close reading of primary sources and use footnotes.
We can discuss this in class.
If you don’t know how to write a historical paper, buy Jules Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History. It should be in the library and on Amazon.
The paper should be 8-10 pages (this does not include the title page), double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-font with normal margins. Your paper should be submitted at class time (via Turnitin) on the 25th of October
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Morality and the Renaissance Idea of the State
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Professor's Name
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Morality and the Renaissance Idea of the State
According to the book "The Prince," Machiavelli is depicted as having two codes of conduct that need to be followed by two groups in a state. One applies to the general public, who are required to stick to what is depicted as the normal standard of morality (Nederman, 2018). The other applies to the ruler, the Prince, who had one moral obligation that required him to act in the state's interest. As a result, the Prince or an individual in a position as a ruler is permitted to exceed conventional morality, and this is only allowed if the end goal is to meet his state's interest (Connell, 2016). As the ruler, the Prince used any means to maintain power in a given state. On the other hand, in Jean Bodin's Six Books of the Republic, the main idea is a supreme power, namely, having the ability to make certain laws, and this is done without having an obligation to ask for consent from another party. According to Bodin, this is a power that can be possessed by one ruler or an entire body of citizens. Hence, Bodin is occasionally depicted as strongly believing that sovereignty was not something that could be divided; hence, it had to be in the hands of one person or a group of people. Therefore, Bodin gives the three types of state, and through this, one can tell his perception of the state. The paper will give a detailed discussion of how Machiavelli's The Prince and Jean Bodin's Six Books of the Republic depict the state in terms of morality.
How Machiavelli Portrays the State
According to Machiavelli, the state is deemed supreme, and, as a result, all citizens are required to abide by it. Machiavelli aimed to ensure that Italy, over time, became a strong state. He understood that for this to be attained, human nature had to be kept in check with its selfish innate form. According to Machiavelli, how the two forms of conduct were to be adhered to depends significantly on the position one occupies. The general public people are obligated to understand morality and even follow it. Any form of breaking of the laws was deemed immoral if done by the general public. However, this is not the case for a ruler who has to act in the state's best interest. Hence, although the act done by a rule may, in some incidents, be wrong or evil, as long as it is in the interest of the state, it is regarded as moral. Furthermore, the other objective of this code of conduct was to ensure that the state had the ability to protect the various possessions of its people (Connell, 2016). However, in this case, due to a lack of virtue among the people of Italy, the only option that was left was the adoption of a monarchy. On many occasions, Machiavelli is seen as in favor of a monarchy, and the main cause of this is how the people of Italy behaved.
Additionally, Machiavelli also gives various directions that guide a Prince to ensure one obtains and maintains a strong state (Nederman, 2018). Therefore, the first step is making sure that one has a powerful army, and a ruler should have a tendency to expand and, through this, gain more power. According to Machiavelli, instilling fear is another key step that needs to be implemented. He suggests that it should be incorporated as a prince is ruling to ensure that he runs a smooth administration. Also, Machiavelli believes that all states that have a command over the principal tend to be republics or principalities. Consequently, the different principalities will further explain how Machiavelli views the state.
1 Hereditary principalities
Machiavelli is of the idea that in a hereditary principality, a prince finds it less difficult to maintain them compared to a new one. According to Machiavelli, extraordinary vices are the only challenges likely to cause a prince in this position to be hated. Otherwise, the subject tends to be naturally disposed to him. An example used by Machiavelli is the Duke of Ferrara. The duke is said to have survived an attack in 1484 from Venetians, and in 1510 he survived another attack from Pope Julius (Connell, 2016). The main reason, as described by Machiavelli, was that the Prince had grown old in that dominion. Also, the main argument is that an individual who becomes a prince by birth tends to have almost no reason to offend. As a result, they are loved by their subjects, and when accused of committing an extraordinary vice, the subject's natural reaction is not hatred. The subject tends to feel the need to wish the Prince well.
2 Mixed Principalities
In a new Principalities, the main idea, according to Machiavelli, is that in this kind, men tend to exchange their lord willingly, and the main drive is the hope that they will be better off. Hence this is labeled the most difficult of the principalities because of the hurdles one has to face (Connell, 2016). The main issue is that after the exchange of their lord, the subject tends to feel that they are in a worse state, especially when the new lord is not meeting their expectations (Nederman, 2018). Naturally, it is expected that the new lord will offend the people through soldiering and other forms of infinite injury. Machiavelli also believes that once one has become the new lord, it is hard to maintain a friendship with those that placed him there, as one cannot fully satisfy the people's desires. Hence, unlike in the hereditary principalities where the Prince tends to be naturally loved in this form, one has to work harder. Machiavelli uses the example of King Louis XII, who held power for a short time before losing it. The people began to be unhappy with their choice, and that is why the ruling was short-lived.
The other type is mixed principalities, in which new states are either added to existing states or are entirely new. In a state ...
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Title
Professor's Name
Date
Morality and the Renaissance Idea of the State
According to the book "The Prince," Machiavelli is depicted as having two codes of conduct that need to be followed by two groups in a state. One applies to the general public, who are required to stick to what is depicted as the normal standard of morality (Nederman, 2018). The other applies to the ruler, the Prince, who had one moral obligation that required him to act in the state's interest. As a result, the Prince or an individual in a position as a ruler is permitted to exceed conventional morality, and this is only allowed if the end goal is to meet his state's interest (Connell, 2016). As the ruler, the Prince used any means to maintain power in a given state. On the other hand, in Jean Bodin's Six Books of the Republic, the main idea is a supreme power, namely, having the ability to make certain laws, and this is done without having an obligation to ask for consent from another party. According to Bodin, this is a power that can be possessed by one ruler or an entire body of citizens. Hence, Bodin is occasionally depicted as strongly believing that sovereignty was not something that could be divided; hence, it had to be in the hands of one person or a group of people. Therefore, Bodin gives the three types of state, and through this, one can tell his perception of the state. The paper will give a detailed discussion of how Machiavelli's The Prince and Jean Bodin's Six Books of the Republic depict the state in terms of morality.
How Machiavelli Portrays the State
According to Machiavelli, the state is deemed supreme, and, as a result, all citizens are required to abide by it. Machiavelli aimed to ensure that Italy, over time, became a strong state. He understood that for this to be attained, human nature had to be kept in check with its selfish innate form. According to Machiavelli, how the two forms of conduct were to be adhered to depends significantly on the position one occupies. The general public people are obligated to understand morality and even follow it. Any form of breaking of the laws was deemed immoral if done by the general public. However, this is not the case for a ruler who has to act in the state's best interest. Hence, although the act done by a rule may, in some incidents, be wrong or evil, as long as it is in the interest of the state, it is regarded as moral. Furthermore, the other objective of this code of conduct was to ensure that the state had the ability to protect the various possessions of its people (Connell, 2016). However, in this case, due to a lack of virtue among the people of Italy, the only option that was left was the adoption of a monarchy. On many occasions, Machiavelli is seen as in favor of a monarchy, and the main cause of this is how the people of Italy behaved.
Additionally, Machiavelli also gives various directions that guide a Prince to ensure one obtains and maintains a strong state (Nederman, 2018). Therefore, the first step is making sure that one has a powerful army, and a ruler should have a tendency to expand and, through this, gain more power. According to Machiavelli, instilling fear is another key step that needs to be implemented. He suggests that it should be incorporated as a prince is ruling to ensure that he runs a smooth administration. Also, Machiavelli believes that all states that have a command over the principal tend to be republics or principalities. Consequently, the different principalities will further explain how Machiavelli views the state.
1 Hereditary principalities
Machiavelli is of the idea that in a hereditary principality, a prince finds it less difficult to maintain them compared to a new one. According to Machiavelli, extraordinary vices are the only challenges likely to cause a prince in this position to be hated. Otherwise, the subject tends to be naturally disposed to him. An example used by Machiavelli is the Duke of Ferrara. The duke is said to have survived an attack in 1484 from Venetians, and in 1510 he survived another attack from Pope Julius (Connell, 2016). The main reason, as described by Machiavelli, was that the Prince had grown old in that dominion. Also, the main argument is that an individual who becomes a prince by birth tends to have almost no reason to offend. As a result, they are loved by their subjects, and when accused of committing an extraordinary vice, the subject's natural reaction is not hatred. The subject tends to feel the need to wish the Prince well.
2 Mixed Principalities
In a new Principalities, the main idea, according to Machiavelli, is that in this kind, men tend to exchange their lord willingly, and the main drive is the hope that they will be better off. Hence this is labeled the most difficult of the principalities because of the hurdles one has to face (Connell, 2016). The main issue is that after the exchange of their lord, the subject tends to feel that they are in a worse state, especially when the new lord is not meeting their expectations (Nederman, 2018). Naturally, it is expected that the new lord will offend the people through soldiering and other forms of infinite injury. Machiavelli also believes that once one has become the new lord, it is hard to maintain a friendship with those that placed him there, as one cannot fully satisfy the people's desires. Hence, unlike in the hereditary principalities where the Prince tends to be naturally loved in this form, one has to work harder. Machiavelli uses the example of King Louis XII, who held power for a short time before losing it. The people began to be unhappy with their choice, and that is why the ruling was short-lived.
The other type is mixed principalities, in which new states are either added to existing states or are entirely new. In a state ...
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