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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d his people, it can also serve to undo him. Thus, Machiavelli proposes that politics and religion should be held in separate spheres. Religion, in God’s sphere, politics, in man’s. Many readers applaud this theme as refreshingly realistic; others attack Machiavelli’s assertions, saying that they compromise moral integrity.

The role of virtue in ‘The Prince’ is certainly one of the most debated topics amongst historians. The Christian view of virtue was that man is inherently evil due to Adam and Eve sinning and therefore, however virtuous man is, it makes no difference to their course in life as G-d controls everything that will happen. In the words of St Augustine, life is “a vale of tears” and “a wise man’s life is all one in preparation for death“#. Renaissance attitudes were quite the opposite and reinforced the feelings of liberation and refreshment which were derived from the growing awareness of human potential: speculation, initiative, experience and exploration. The humanists consequently argue that man is not inherently evi...