What The Prince Told
In summary to Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, there are a few key ideas to know about. First we all understand that Machiavelli doesn't want good princes, but sure people can continue to be good princes, which in this case Machiavelli suggested being a good prince won't bring benefits to you but it will cut your own path short. On the other side, being a bad prince brings good benefits, and Machiavelli in short, thinks there's no need for any justification about it, which brings us to the idea that Machiavelli support this kind of untrust within human beings.
"A prince, therefore, should have no other object, no other thought, nor should he adopt any other art as his profession, than war and its rules and discipline, for that is the only art befitting one who commands."(Machiavelli 46) The core of it all is to ensure the prince's survival and what ways you can make sure that happen. As we see, many people do actually agree about this and find Machiavelli's ideas convincing, but as we also see that some do not agree with Machiavelli's ideas, like Mark Hulliung from his reveiw.
What I Think About The Prince
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| Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century Vatican Museums, Rome |
What I actually think about The Prince, would be a little conflicted. Basically with Machiavelli's ideas, he believes in negative, as we can see that he filled his core into survival, benefits, not trust, and definitely not goodness. The Prince is more like a mirror for the rulers, it heavily depends on how rulers would choose to walk their paths. There are two different examples that I think of.
One is emperor Augustus, who started the prosperous Roman Empire, and the other one is emperor Palpatine, from the Star Wars franchise, who started the infamous Galatic Empire. These two figures both walk a similar path, in which they both executed the transformation from republics to empires, yet they faced entirely different ends. Augustus executed such transformation because he knew what the situation required for all of the Rome, he acted with dedication and no hesitation, and later we all see that he gave Rome a time of peace and prosperity, forming a synbionic relationship with his empire.
As Machiavelli said, "A prince must also show himself a lover or virtue, give recognition to virtuous men, and honor those who excel in any particular art. Moreover, he should encourage his citizen to practice their trades in peace, whether in commerce, or agriculture, or any other human activity."(Machiavelli 73) Augustus did exactly these, in which he becomes positive example to Machiavellism's outcome.
On the other side, Palpatine was acted in only one direction, as Machiavelli's idea, the desire of assuming power, dominance, and ruling with untrust, in order to ensure survival, he followed it all in. At last, it led to not a prosperous age, but a short-lived empire. In one sentence to describe my opinion in The Prince, it seems to me that Machiavellism does not provide a stability, but a possibility.
Palpatine declares the Empire(Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith)-Youtube
Why The Prince Is Relatable
As I have said, the different outcomes can appear from Machiavelli's ideas. This is also something he said, "For if he could only change his nature with the times and circumstances, Fortune would not have changed"(Machiavelli 79) This lead to the reason why it's still relatable today. I might still have some reservation for the ideas that Machiavelli had provided to us, but the final piece that added it all up, will remain unchanged even with everything that Machiavelli said, and that is the principle of resilience within Machiavelli's message, which I believed in across entirety of my time of reading The Prince, but other than that element of resilience out of my thinking, how will I look at The Prince?
It matters in a way today as Machiavellism stands as a doubtful ideology, because we now know that being mutilated by others can have terrible long-term effects, including damage to physical and mental health. The benefits of being compassionate to oneself rather than cruel to oneself are becoming more and more known. Moreover, the idea that we must endure pain to grow is doubtful. Positive life events, such as falling in love, having children, and achieving cherished goals can all promote growth. After all, as we the society adapt more and more each day, The Prince will always serve as a incredible piece to notify us about the ideas of humanism.
Works Cited
Niccolò Machiavelli, and Wayne A Rebhorn. The Prince : A Revised Translation, Backgrounds, Interpretations. New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2020.
“Augustus of Prima Porta.” Wikipedia, 22 Mar. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_of_Prima_Porta. Accessed 23 Feb. 2021.
Sypher279. “Palpatine Declares the Empire.” YouTube, 3 Dec. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6zSmtxzwjM. Accessed 23 Feb. 2021.
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