Concepts and Principles of Machiavellis Political Teaching

Concepts and principles of Machiavellis political teaching
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Introduction
Living through the years 1469 to 1527, NiccolÓ Machiavelli was one of the most accomplished Italian politicians who doubled as a poet, civil servant, playwright, military theorist and historian. Born to the Machiavellis, who were a middle class family, Machiavelli was well educated in the humanistic studies, while his father was a doctor of law. Machiavelli had been born into a country that was experiencing shifting power struggles and fights with its neighbors that wanted to invade Italy. At the time, Spain and France were some of the neighbors that wanted to bring down the state of Italy. During the time that he worked for the government in his career, he was imprisoned and tortured a few time. As an avid literally writer, it was during this turbulent times that Machiavelli came up with some of the theories that he felt were crucial to having a powerful nation. Most of his theories were politically inspired given his career and service to the people of Florence and Italy as a whole. Other than power Machiavelli also had some very intriguing thoughts on the nature of man, social values, international relations, conflict and corruption, government and politics as well as significance and influence. He also gave some of the most basic qualities that he felt that every leader should have if they were poised to make any different in the society through their service to the people. Among the main qualities that ever leader should have according to Machiavelli were as follows; leaders should be feared rather than loved if by any chance they could withstand a revolt from the people or the political class, he also felt that the leaders should have the support of their people at all times, leaders are also supposed to hold good virtues according to the social cultures and norms, at all-time the leaders should rely on their own arm and never ask for assistance from mercenaries and finally for every leader to serve his/her people they have to be intelligent. It is important that some of the theories that Machiavelli brought forward, though they may old some are actually applicable in the political arenas of the current political systems. However, some can barely work in the current political systems, especially considering that democracy is a key element of governance today.[. Niccolò Machiavelli, Peter E Bondanella and Mark Musa, The Portable Machiavelli (Hammondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1979).] [. Machiavelli, Niccolò, Quentin Skinner, and Russell Price. 1988. Machiavelli: the prince. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.]
Thesis statement: Machiavelli’s theories were well thought out and some can be applied in the current political systems, while other cannot, as they are irrelevant and outdated.
Central concepts and Principles of Machiavelli’s political teaching
Human Nature in the Theory of Man
Although Machiavelli was an avid writer he did not expound in his theories in central book. Much of his theories about man and governance are spread across the many pieces that he wrote, as such, it is upon the imaginative readers to pick up the bits and pieces on his material and make the coherent central ideas. Reading most of his material however, it is not hard to vividly the central ideas and the principles that he stood for in all of his writing. These are all quite consistent in all the pieces that he did during his career.
One of the aspects that got Machiavelli the inspiration to write most of his books and literally pieces is the fascination with politics. To study politics, Machiavelli viewed it as a detached system. As such he did so by looking at ways that political activities operated and how best they could be manipulated. He took a rational approach to look at politics and how it interacted with power. One of his central ideas was how power could be harnessed within the political system and how best it could be maintained. It is important to note that most of the works indicate that he did not have an inclination towards moral and political obligations, even though he believed in a society that was innately good.
From a good majority of some of his written works, Machiavelli shares his theory on the theory of man in reference to the nature of humans. In his opinion, man has a peculiar nature where he can be deemed to be changeless. He further cited that man is innately evil, but this does not preclude him from the possibilities of having sociable traits. According to Machiavelli, man is creature that bound to have unlimited desire and ambition, further more man tends to have a self-preservation driven desire, short sighted only judging relative to the immediacy of rewards rather than the consequences of his actions, he also tends to imitate others in power and authority and virtually inflexible in behavior. It is the aspect of man’s short sightedness that makes him susceptible to the political class in the society.[. Niccolò Machiavelli et al., The Prince And The Discourses (New York: The Modern library, 1940).]
At the same time man is capable of being virtuous and cooperative depending on the environment. If he is threatened, he may change to adapt to the situation which demands to be courageous, industrious and deny himself of pleasures. However after the danger perceived is averted, he goes back to his original state. As such, according to Machiavelli, man is basically designed in a manner that his behavior hangs in the balance between being good and being evils. As such, he establishes that no man is either good or evil it most depends on the environment and sometimes age and race.[. Niccolò Machiavelli and Allan H Gilbert, The Prince (New York: Hendricks House, 1964).]
Machiavelli Theory on Values
Machiavelli did not believe in moral goals associated with politics, instead he felt that politics end game is to enhance public utility, security and also make sure that the wellbeing of the community is safe guarded. As such he viewed moral intentions as far less outweighed by the consequences of ant actor politically and socially. This means that, in a political decision, much of what counted were the political consequences and the social implication, rather than the morality of the actions. Ideally dilemma between good and bad would always exist and it important to concentrate on the consequences instead. This did not mean that he was in support of the violation of the moral codes in the society. Ideally he could also differentiate between moral and immoral; however in light of the public interest, public utility was more important. Even when he attacked the churches, he merely pointed to the corrupt clerical operations, which was common among the popes and their political agendas.
Conflict and corruption
According to Machiavelli, conflict is innately human and stems from his very nature. As such it a permanent condition in the society where there will always be conflict among the humans. This departs from the classical views that show conflict as being an aspect that is unnatural. Conflict between humans is based on their social status. While he may not have brought out this aspect as an economic struggle, he saw from the perspective of lustfully seeking domination and power.
Power analysis in fortuna and virtu
According to most philosophers and writers, there is a relation that exists between theme of morality and the legitimate authority. Majority of the writers that have authored book recounting the aspects of the Middle Ages and even the renaissance, indicate that a leader is supposed to have strictly virtuous personal morals. This was the same aspects that renowned philosophers such as Plato also advocated in their material. A leader was supposed to have some virtual to guide his use of power and authority to the benefit of their state or kingdom and the people. Machiavelli however viewed this as a delusion. For Machiavelli, relative to the human nature, where they often exhibit brutal, fickle and selfish behaviors, it was impossible to stay in power with virtues and moral dependencies. This is a complete disregard of the political philosophy that existed at the time and even today.[. Niccolò Machiavelli et al., The Prince (Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 1955).] [. Niccolò Machiavelli and Henry John Cockayne Cust, Machiavelli (New York: AMS Press, 1967).]
In his view, for a state to experience power, authority and stability, they need a leader that understands what it takes to achiev...