Niccolò Machiavelli: Difference between revisions

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'''Niccolò Machiavelli''' (1469 - 1527) was a Florentine writer, philosopher, and political theorist active at a time of great chaos and turmoil throughout Italy. He is best-known for writing ''[[The Prince (Literature)|The Prince]]'', a handbook for the ruling Medici family on how to most effectively run a principality. Due to ''The Prince'' being his best-known work, coupled with the fact that [[Mainstream Obscurity|few who quote it have actually read it]], Machiavelli's name has become a byword for being a ruthless, manipulative, backstabbing bastard; so much so that in [[Christopher Marlowe (Creator)|Christopher Marlowe]]'s ''[[Doctor Faustus (Theatre)|Doctor Faustus]]'', Machiavelli is presented as one who has made a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]], and the term ''Old Nick'' to refer to [[The Devil]] may also be derived from his forename.

This reputation is perhaps undeserved as some of his other works, notably ''[[Discourses On Livy (Literature)|Discourses Onon Livy]]'', are all about successfully running republics, and even in ''The Prince'' he states that a republic is the best form of government. In the eighteenth century the view that the book was actually an [[Stealth Parody|elaborate]] [[Troll Fic|parody]] became fashionable given both the nature of Machiavelli's other works and the fact that ''The Prince'' was written just after he was stripped of his power, imprisoned, and tortured by the Medicis. In early nineteenth century Germany it became fashionable to suggest that ''The Prince'' needed to be judged relatively. Hegel argued that it was written for a certain time and certain locale and to judge it based on contemporary morality and from the perspective of someone living in a unified nation state was unfair. Since the mid-twentieth century, the most common interpretation of ''The Prince'' is that it simply describes [[Francis Bacon|"what men do, and not what they ought to do"]] and that it is the first true work to deal with politics as a branch of science and not ethics.

However, one must be careful not to assume that Machiavelli was truly pro-democracy. In ''Discourses on Livy'', he takes the time to state that pure democracy isn't a great idea either, and the best form of government is one that combines democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy so that the different social classes can keep each other in check. On the other hand, the liberal movement which (openly or otherwise) adopted Machiavelli's philosophy more or less took the same opinion. Indeed, modern representative democracy would rather please Machiavelli, as it more or less reflects his ideals. (aA popularly-elected legislature is ''not'' a democracy as he understood it, but close enough to serve in the position in his three-in-one system;<ref>To elaborate, Machiavelli considered Rome the model, and Rome was a single small republic that conquered and collected tribute from other city-states and thus could have a direct-democratic element in the city. The idea of ''representative'' government was essentially an English invention, and the idea that the territory of a republic could--indeed, ''should''--encompass thousands of square miles was straight from the mind of [[James Madison]]--who, incidentally, made no bones about his interest in Machiavelli.</ref> the modern investment of a great deal of power in [[American Political System|directly-elected presidents]] and [[British Political System|indirectly-elected prime ministers]] is a pretty good approximation of his idea of "monarchy"; and both the role of less-representative upper legislative houses--like the US Senate and British Lords--and small, well-educated judicial courts are close to his concept of "aristocracy").

* ''[[The Prince (Literature)|The Prince]]'' (1513)

* ''[[Discourses On Livy (Literature)|Discourses Onon Livy]]'' (1517)

* ''The Art of War'' (1519; no, not [[The Art of War (Literature)|that one]])

* [[Born in Thethe Wrong Century]]: He shared the [[Renaissance Man|Renaissance mentality]] of being several centuries ahead of his time and of wanting to live in [[Ancient Rome]]. See the [[Cosplay]] example below.

* [[My Country, Right or Wrong]]: Machiavelli was a [[Patriotic Fervor|patriot]] who wanted a united Italy at a time when no one else particularly thought it was possible. This may explain why he wrote [[The Prince|a book]] about how a dastardly, wickedly cunning, violent man would be a good ruler.

* [[Tall, Dark and Snarky]]