The Prince by Machiavelli

He moves onto break the argument down and talks about everyday life; he mentions that even in everyday life an armed man would have a great amount of power as opposed to an unarmed man. Machiavelli goes on to explain how to conduct a good war and the ethics of war. Furthermore he also highlights the importance of diplomacy and international politics. Even though Machiavelli attaches extreme importance to the might of military he does explain that a ruler should know about his country, terrain and army. The army should be kept fit by regular training and exercises. He goes onto to mark a paradox; if a ruler does what should be done rather than what is generally done it would reduce his power rather than strengthen it. This leads on to the conclusion that a ruler should rule according to the people rather than what is right and wrong according to the ruler. Although a ruler does not rule according to his personal whim, I believe that he should also not totally succumb to the wishes of the people.

Machiavelli’s claim that a ruler should be prepared to act immorally to maintain power is another very dodgy claim according to me because in my opinion it is more important to be moral than to only maintain power. Machiavelli also states that if generosity is practiced, you will run out of resources. However, a ruler should seem like a benevolent ruler but not practice it because generosity can be self consuming and can potentially harm the ruler. In order for a ruler to be feared he/she has to be cruel because when people fear a ruler they are cautious and try to not harm or offend the ruler. Hence, fear is more important than being loved as a ruler. Fear can motivate people to follow the leader. These ideas stem from a time where rulers had absolute authority, however, in today’s time where legitimacy comes from the people and democratic systems of governance are prevalent, such ideas do not hold much ground. However, they can still be plausible in the case where rulers have a lot of authority; in that case they made lead to better governance on the part of the ruler.  Machiavelli gives examples of Achilles and other rules that were entrusted to Chiron the centaur to learn because it is important to learn the animal traits as well along with the human traits. This idea seems to stem from myth rather than concrete historical evidence. As far as keeping promises are concerned, a ruler needs to manipulate people.

A ruler can be made foolproof if he can ward off the wolves like a lion and recognize traps like a fox. However, a ruler should be known for his traits of a fox, they should be well hidden. Machiavelli rightfully points out that men look at achievements rather than looking at the way the goal was achieved i.e. if a place is conquered only that is looked at and praised rather than looking at how it was conquered. Rulers should not seize property and women because that would lead to hatred and hatred should be avoided. People are satisfied if they are free to live with their property and honour. This is only true for most men; however, few men who seek to be ambitious can be controlled so that the rest do not follow them. A ruler has the power to prevent misfortunes and should work towards safeguarding his people from misfortunes in order to keep them happy. It is not wise for a ruler to always rely on his luck. In order for a ruler to be fortunate, he/she needs to be impetuous rather than very cautious.

            Machiavelli presupposes absolute authority of a ruler before philosophizing about how a ruler should perform. His ideas can still be very plausible but there are much more hindrances to them in the modern world where rulers seek legitimacy from the masses. A ruler’s only motive should not be to maintain power but also to truly work towards the progress of his people and his community.