The Prince by Machiavelli

The Prince by Machiavelli

There have been many treatises of political philosophy , but Machiavelli 's Prince is different because it was intended to be a practical guide rather than a philosophical discourse . The book was published in 1520 's , and did not receive much of a response initially As it started gaining attention gradually , however , much of the response was characterized by horror and repulsion because the Italian public and other readers of the work throughout Europe thought that it was evil immoral , brutal and wicked . Such an attitude to Machiavelli 's

work is rather justified since The Prince apparently disregards values , morals principles , ideals , various ethical and philosophical issues , and is purely focused on practical , opportunistic ways for a ruler to secure more power , retain it and use it effectively . This is by no means a book of wisdom but only of hard-nosed , ruthless shrewdness

It was a revolutionary work in its own way . Lofty ideals were of no concern to Machiavelli , what mattered to him were practical results . All means are justified to achieve the desired ends . Nothing so mean nothing so foul that it could not be used as a stepping stone on the path of achieving greater power . The political thinkers who came both before and after Machiavelli yielded in some measure or other to the temptation of conceptualizing an idealistic , utopian form of government While Machiavelli too was conceptualizing about an ideal ruler , his ideals were grounded in historical realities , especially of the turbulent political...