The Prince
by Niccolo Machiavelli
As much as Plato discusses the meaning of being “just” and how to be a productive member of society in The Republic, Machiavelli illustrates how to get what you want in the political realm, with little concern to the wellbeing of others. As I learned quickly during my political science classes in college, you’re either a Plato fan or a Machiavelli fan. I am a Plato fan.
Machiavelli is cold and calculating, a snake rather than a prince. To me, it read like a novel. I imagined a conniving man who wanted to obtain ultimate power and keep it when others tried to usurp his throne. I could feel his paranoia, and I cringed when he treated people like imbeciles or criminals before they’d been given a chance to prove otherwise. If it were a novel, the villainous protagonist would achieve his goal, only to be taken down and punished for all the bad he’s done on his journey to the top. However, this is not a novel. It’s a manual. In that sense, it’s disturbing.
If you’re a cynic, hate people, and want to get what you think you deserve regardless of how many people you have to step on along the way, you might like it. To me, The Prince was not my favorite political book, and Machiavelli was far from my favorite philosopher.
Machiavelli is cold and calculating, a snake rather than a prince. To me, it read like a novel. I imagined a conniving man who wanted to obtain ultimate power and keep it when others tried to usurp his throne. I could feel his paranoia, and I cringed when he treated people like imbeciles or criminals before they’d been given a chance to prove otherwise. If it were a novel, the villainous protagonist would achieve his goal, only to be taken down and punished for all the bad he’s done on his journey to the top. However, this is not a novel. It’s a manual. In that sense, it’s disturbing.
If you’re a cynic, hate people, and want to get what you think you deserve regardless of how many people you have to step on along the way, you might like it. To me, The Prince was not my favorite political book, and Machiavelli was far from my favorite philosopher.