Do You Agree With The View That Machiavelli’s Work ‘The Prince’ Was Profoundly Untypical Of The Attitudes Of 16th Century Humanists And Political Thinkers?

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‘The Prince’ by Machiavelli was one of the first humanist works of the Renaissance. The writer uniquely contrasts his opinions with 16th century humanists and political thinkers about virtue, fortune, morality and the ways in which men in a high ranking society should act. It is an apparent tribute to Machiavelli’s originality as to why the book is still widely read today. However, it is this same originality which has led his work to be fervently debated over the centuries, and ‘The Prince’ has thus become an extremely controversial piece of writing.

From 1498 until the fall of the Florentine republic in 1512, Machiavelli held the post of second chancellor and secretary of the Council of Ten. However as a result of the Medici coming back to power, Machiavelli was consequently relieved from his political duties and exiled. It was during this period that Machiavelli wrote his dedicatory epistle, ‘The Prince’ to the new ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de Medici. By flattering the Medici, and changing his own personal beliefs as to how a Prince should rule in order to suit his reader, Machiavelli hoped to re-enter the political sphere. Although many critics consider ‘The Prince’ to be satirical, simply an attempt to reveal the problems with the ruling class, most see Machiavelli’s work as a serious attempt to lay the groundwork for the reunification of Italy under the Medici family of Florence. Machiavelli’s idea that the model prince should use a variety of tactics to secure his power, namely that the end justifies the means, is the most controversial issue raised in ‘The Prince’. It is in complete contrast to the humanist belief that in order to be virtuous, man should always be trustworthy and honest. Knowing that this notion would not be universally accepted, Machiavelli, through his book, tries to justify his idea by showing that men are inherently evil. Though religion can often serve to unify a prince an...