Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Machiavelli's attitude towards the Medici family
Do you think Machiavelli purposely chose to leave out his personal opinion while he was writing the Prince? I ask this because he wrote this book for the Medici family so maybe he thought that his own opinions would conflict with the Medici's opinions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think that Machiavelli definitely purposely left out his personal opinion in the Prince. The purpose of his writing this book had nothing to do with morals or his beliefs. The Prince is a realistic guide on how to be powerful and rule based on many historical examples. Machiavelli simply writes the truth. Also, I think that Machiavelli used the Prince to get on the Medici's good side. At the time when he was writing this, he was powerless and without a job. I think that Machiavelli wrote the Prince to show his knowledge and experience as an advisor, as well as to justify the Medicis' actions to potentially be in the favor of the Medici Family.
ReplyDeleteI think that Machiavelli tried but failed to leave his personal opinions out of The Prince. His personal experiences, and the tumultuous events in Italy during his lifetime not allow him to leave his opinions out of the writing. For example, he writes that the most secure way to hold on to a state is to destroy it and exact cruelty at one time. Machiavelli had a high position in the Florentine republic, then the Medici returned and dissolved the government by force. He was exiled in an act of cruelty. There is a reason that in the story of Agathocles, he says that cruelty is morally wrong, even if it is militarily right. This is a snipe at the Medici, and it shows that his opinions and the examples he used were influenced by his life and times.
ReplyDeleteAlthough many people in class argue that Machiavelli wrote The Prince to get back into the city, it is just as accurate to say that he meant to leave his personal opinion in his writings. Machiavelli's Prince gives valuable information on how to be a great prince in many different situations, but through his examples of great rulers came great examples of how the human condition has come (for the worse). Machiavelli is a victim of human nature and the bad things he thinks it can bring by the Medici family. His message to the Medici is "There are ideals and things that humans strive for like righteousness and lovability, but there are people like you, the Medici, so this is how to overcome people like you". He had an ethos, or right to speak, on the matter because he has witnessed the evils people can put onto each other be it in the past or during his life time.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Machiavelli didn't want to express his opinion on the Medicis, because he hated them, because they exiled him. If he talked about this the Medicis would call in a friend and have Machiavelli "conveniently", yet permanently taken care of.
ReplyDelete