Machiavelli Quiz

"The Prince is a concise statement of Machiavelli's belief that classical and Christian political theory is unworkable in a world that defines politics as the exercise of power and the struggle for power. It is also implicitly a rejection of a nihilistic counter ethic, that only power and brute force matter."

Discuss to what extent you agree or disagree with this statement. What evidence can you bring to support your position?


In The Count of Monte Cristo, Abbe Faria told Edmond Dantes that he, like Machiavelli, wanted to see a strong, united, kingdom in Italy. Faria said that Italy was weak, but it needed to become strong by tightening the reigns. I believe Abbe Faria has the correct interpretation of Machiavelli’s beliefs and that Dante Germino has misinterpreted him in his book.

All throughout The Prince, Machiavelli lays out the most effective ways of acquiring and keeping the rule of a state. He disregards morals and does not consider any Christian ethics. He seems to state that human sacrifice is not just acceptable, but necessary in many cases to maintain control. This thought is shown in an article written in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP). The SEP analyzes Machiavelli’s entire life and many of his works and there is a section on The Prince. In that section the SEP states that Machiavelli throws out all moral values when establishing his different ways of ruling. “For Machiavelli, power characteristically defines political activity, and hence it is necessary for a successful ruler to know how power is to be used. Only by means of proper application of power, Machiavelli believes, can individuals be brought to obey and will the ruler be able to maintain a state in safety and security,” (SEP, The Prince: Analyzing Power, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/#2).

That statement about Machiavelli supports my idea that Machiavelli believes in using force and sacrifice to rule a kingdom and is not concerned with ethics. Dante Germino is wrong about his interpretations in his book, Machiavelli to Marx: Modern Western Political Thought.