Term Papers on Report On The Prince By Machiavelli

Term Paper Title	Report On The Prince By Machiavelli
# of Words	1145
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.58

Report On The Prince By Machiavelli

1.  Major themes in the book.
        The Prince, written by Niccolo Machiavelli, is one of the first
examinations of politics and science from a purely scientific and
rational perspective.  Machiavelli theorizes that the state is only
created if the people cooperate and work to maintain it.  The state is
also one of man’s greatest endeavors, and the state takes precedence
over everything else.  The state should be one’s primary focus, and
maintaining the sovereignty of the state one’s most vital concern.  The
state is founded on the power of its military.  Therefore, a strong
military is vital to maintaining the state.  Machiavelli believes that
men respect power, but they will take advantage of kindness.  He
believes that when given the opportunity one must destroy completely,
because if one does not he will certainly be destroyed.  The prince
should lead the military, and he has to be intelligent.  An effective
politician can make quick and intelligent choices about the problems
that constantly arise before him.  He must also have virtue, which means
he is strong, confident, talented, as well as smart.  A prince cannot be
uncertain, because uncertainty is a sign of weakness.  Fortune controls
half of human’s actions, and man’s will control the other half.  Virtue
is the best defense for fortune, and virtue must be used in order to
keep fortune in check.  The prince must take advantage of situations
based solely on if it is best for the state.  He should choose his
decisions based on contemporary and historical examples.  A prince
cannot consider whether his acts are moral or immoral, and he instead
must act in an unbiased manner for the state.  Also, it does not matter
how the state achieves its goals, as long as these goals are achieved.
Finally, regardless of the personal morality involved, the prince should
be praised if he does good for the state and berated if he hurts the
state.  Machiavelli’s principles have widespread influence, and they are
quite similar to some of Thomas Hobbes ideas in Leviathan.
2.  What does Machiavelli think of "the people" in the course of human
history?
Machiavelli has a very low opinion of the people throughout history.
In general, he feels that men are "ungrateful, fickle, liars, and
deceiver."  "They shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat
them well, they are yours.  They would shed their blood for you … but
when you are in danger they turn against you."  Machiavelli basically
has little respect for the people, and he feels as though they have not
earned much either.  He uses this as justification for the use of fear
in order to control people.  He also feels that men are "wretched
creatures who would not keep their word to you, you need not keep your
word to them."  This sense of fairness justifies breaking one’s word to
men.  Machiavelli also writes about how hard it must be for a prince to
stay virtuous.  He concludes that with so many wretched men around
virtue is hard to create in oneself.  "The fact is that a man who wants
to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many
who are not virtuous."  Overall, Machiavelli is very pessimistic about
the abilities of the people.  He feels that after examining people
through history, his conclusions of wretched men are correct.
3.  Discuss Machiavelli’s opinions on the uses of cruelty to accomplish
certain goals.
        Machiavelli tells us that the sovereign must take whatever action is
necessary to maintain order in society.  In time this will result in the
most compassionate choice too.  Machiavelli explains that, Cesare
Borgia, by using cruelty was able to ach...

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