Abstract
Written in a time where democracy was not the norm, it may be difficult to understand the relevance of Machiavelli’s Prince today. This chapter seeks to explain how Machiavelli’s understanding of tyranny remains valid in a democratic context, especially for the sake of establishing a new society and for preventing a free society from collapsing.
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Notes
- 1.
This is clearly Dick Morris’ short-sighted interpretation of Machiavelli’s book. See The New Prince: Machiavelli Updated for the Twenty-First Century. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999.
- 2.
Leo Strauss, What is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies. Chicago and London: Chicago University Press, 1988, p. 40.
- 3.
Leo Strauss, Thoughts on Machiavelli. Chicago and London: Chicago University Press, 1958, pp. 9–10.
- 4.
Claude Lefort, Machiavel, le travail et l’œuvre. Paris: Gallimard, 1972, pp. 85–92.
- 5.
Éric Weil, “Machiavel aujourd’hui”, Critique, Vol. 8, No. 46, March 1951, pp. 233–253.
- 6.
Indeed, “Machiavellianism is included as one of the three personality traits collectively referred to as the ‘dark triad’. Within the management literature, scholars group Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy together as the ‘dark triad’ given all three personality traits share the common thread of malevolence demonstrated within interpersonal relationships. An individual displaying Machiavellianism generally exhibits three interrelated values that drive behavior: (1) an openness to using manipulation to bring about desired results; (2) a distrustful view of others; and (3) prioritizing results above morality (i.e., the ends justify the means thinking)”, in Christopher E. Cosans and Christopher S. Reina, “The Leadership Ethics of Machiavelli’s Prince”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2018, pp. 276–277.
- 7.
Machiavelli wrote the following: “It is essential for a Prince who desires to maintain his position, to have learned how to be other than good and to use or not to use his goodness as necessity requires” (chapter 15).
- 8.
This is especially clear in Book 1, Chapter 9 of his Discourses on Livy.
- 9.
Erica Benner, Machiavelli’s Ethics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, p. 407. See also Raymond Aron, Machiavel et les tyrannies modernes. Paris: Éditions de Fallois, 1993, p. 71.
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Caron, JF. (2019). Introductory Remarks. In: The Prince 2.0: Applying Machiavellian Strategy to Contemporary Political Life. The Steppe and Beyond: Studies on Central Asia. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0353-5_1
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