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Summary International Political Theory IPC3701 - Niccolo Machiavelli () Essay
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Niccolo Machiavelli () Essay
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IntroductionUnlike other philosophers Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was not a
typical intellectual, but rather described as an eccentric. As a senior
official in the Florentine government, he represented the state on several
diplomatic missions and underwent a number of major upheavals.
In 1494 he witnessed Florence’s defeat by the French and the fall of the
Medici dynasty. He also saw the creation of the republic of Florence and
the restoration of the Medici in 1512. It was after this that his services
became unneeded and he wrote his two great works, Discourses and
The prince.
Machiavelli’s works (particularly the prince) were characterised by
prescriptive advice rather than speculative thoughts. He addressed the
princes of the different Italian territories, instructing them in basic
attitudes to be adopted towards other monarchs.
His style is consistently prescriptive and his advice consists in outlining
the prerequisites for successful diplomacy.
- Discuss the social structure: the nobility and clergy were involved in the
running of the state therefore; ordinary citizens had no knowledge other
than what was communicated to them. The understanding is that this
kind of communication was very limited.
- Power was enforced or given legitimacy through religion. Therefore,
people were guided by a sense of morality – what is right and wrong.
• Religion or Christianity was a predominant influence over the people
living in Europe. It provided the state with legitimate power over its
inhabitants and disseminated values and morals to society.
“…citizens were more afraid of breaking an oath than of breaking the
law, since they held in higher esteem the power of God than the power
of man.”
“…religion helped in the control of armies, in encouraging plebs, in
producing good men, and in shaming the bad.”
“Nor in fact was there ever a legislator who in introducing extraordinary
laws to a people, did not have recourse to God, for otherwise they would
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