Machiavellian principle?

Question

As the arts flourished during the Renaissance, new political ideas were also born, Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli believed that a good ruler could not always honor his word and had to put his needs and that of the state above promises made to the people. Machiavelli  thought that “the end justified the means” and that morals should be removed from politics.


Do you agree with the Machiavellian principle that power and ruthlessness are more useful to a ruler than idealism? Write a short essay in which you develop our position on the issue.  Support you point of view with reasoning and examples from your reading and studies.

Naz F · Accepted Answer

Machiavelli did not exactly think 'morals should be removed from politics', but that the needs of the nation should stand above any moral code.

Leaders who especially showed this principle include: 1)Stalin, who saw his policies were causing great pain to his own people, yet knew this would be worthwhile in the long-term, 2) Boris Yeltsin, who administered economic 'shock therapy' to Russia, knowing it would be worthwhile in the long term, 3) Hitler, who broke the treaty of Versailles to rebuild Germany (sorry for listing all really AWFUL people so far), and 4) Vittorio Emmanuele Orlando, who broke Italy's treaties with 
in wwi to side with the Allies.  (finally, a good guy!)


HINT:  Don't you think it's a little brazen to say 'Write a short essay' and 'Support your point of view' in your question?  Even in the homework section of yahoo answers, people say 'help me with my homework', they don't say - as you have - 'Do my homework for me.'
Asking in a less obvious, more diplomatic way will get you better results.

Anonymous · Answer

Our world is corrupt cause humanity has lost its morals. Idealism is a far away myth in the views of the world leaders, that's why u can see wars , destruction, millions of people suffering, cause "the end justifies the means". Man without morals is merely an animal seeking a selfish profit for his own or a group. The world is corrupt , because the who control it are also corrupt, some of its philosophers r corrupt . This disease is transferred to politics. I am with Plato's view of the leadership of ideal philosophers 2 achieve the ideal , perfect state or nation, or else power and force will not cease to rule cause the Law of  wilderness is, So how r we different from animals then?!

xo379 · Answer

Er...no, I don't really agree that morals should be removed from politics.
I understand his point that: 1. Morals can complicate things; and 2. Not everyone has the same morals, and morals are relative (think: Hitler.)
But if you take over with the mindset of 'the ends justify the means' (consequentalism). I think you might find this very helpful for your paper: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequentialism#Criticisms_of_consequentialism (especially the part 'Character-based criticisms' about Bernard Williams.)

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Machiavellian principle?

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