8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Il Principe" - the manual to dictatorship, April 8, 1998
Machiavelli's "Prince" is set in 16th century Italy, in the Republic of Florence. Italy is dominated, and lets itself be ruled by foreign forces. The Italian people is socially split, and geographically divided into countless states of, in some cases, ridiculous size. The once so flourishing Italy is politically subdued. Machiavelli, a renowned politician and diplomat, is aware of the current situation, and feels the necessity for a change. He wants to bring Italy back to union, back to political power. The "Prince" is a manual which is supposed to instruct the de facto ruler of Florence Lorenzo de' Medici how to regain order in Florence, and then conquer Italy and bring it back to union. Machiavelli suggests that in a moment of political crisis, the prince, or another monarch, must take the power and rule dictatorially, until the country is again in the state of being able to govern itself. Although Machiavelli is a convinced republican, he is in favour of temporary dictatorship when the political circumstances require it. The author theorizes this in a short book consisting of 26 chapters. He instructes the monarch how to gain power and how to exercise it as a dictator. The book is not particularly gripping to read, but leads to a greater understanding of Western politics, as it is a milestone in the European political thought. It is a proof of political genius - had Machiavelli been a sovereign powerful enough to realize what he theorizes in the "Prince", I daresay that the political world might look quite different know. It is a book of great impact, and I can highly recommend it to all interested readers.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
IL PRINCIPE: ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS EVER, September 23, 2002
This review is from: The Prince (Deodand Classics) (Paperback)
Here are some BASIC, UTMOST IMPORTANT and UNIVERSAL REMARKS for those that start reading Niccolò Machiavelli, be it 'Il Principe' or his 'Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio', better known as 'The Discourses', giving a very original political comment on the the first ten books of Titus Livius.
* Machiavelli's ideas are NOT a close-fitting nor a rounded down system: who thinks elsehow will get into everlasting problems;
* The 'Secretarius Florentinus' is NOT a SYSTEMATIC philosopher in the scholastic sense of the word: he DOESN'T WORRY whether the question or idea he describes is IN CONCORDANCE with notions or opinions written down elsewhere. Therefore lots of statements can but difficultly be brought in accordance to the former AND can even bring CRITICISM INTO TROUBLE. This is of far lesser importance while these incongruities are merely touching the general points of departure of his work, instead of the distinct parts of his arguments. You can notice this through his LOGIC (as strong as iron!!) and an IRREFUTABLE CONSEQUENCE.
* Machiavelli stays A-MORAL in Il Principe, just as nature is: not judging about good and bad, not influenced by a religion or anything else!! I know people have problems with this last 'way of writing, thinking', BUT this is the most important factor that makes his work so IMMENSELY UNIVERSAL...
There are two central themes in this work: POLITICS and THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE CONNECTED WITH THE NOTION, THE CONCEPT 'POWER'.
Il Principe is a flaming and militant political piece of writing in which the author is not only rationally, but also emotionally 'present' with the full power of his personality.
Machiavelli's ideas are closely related to the general philosophical concept of the Renaissance. His vision too is antropocentric: the only right to exist man has, is present in man himself AND in the realisation of the self in this world.
Machiavelli is the founder of the political science(s): nobody before him had considered that politic is a single, separate science, free of any moral or religion.
In his system he isolates the technical bias (read: orientation) on what is politically useful from the moral and theological aspect of kindness and justice. He defines sharply THE PURPOSE that one wants to reach, to achieve and THEN, starting from the situation in which a (the) person stands, WEIGHS UP THE PROS AND CONS (on a rational-technical basis) OF THE MEANS THAT LEAD TO THE PURPOSE. WHICH MEANS THOSE ARE, DOES NOT MATTER (= AMORAL).
A means or reason that is MORALLY BAD, can be GOOD FOR POLITICS and VICE VERSA...!
Instead of talking about The Prince, it is only correct to use the word RULER: the crucial person in this work. For Machiavelli it was Cesare Borgia, for Nietzsche it was Napoleon, who REALLY 'slept with Il Principe' (he understood the book very well).
Too many readers are misled by words as "fortune, virtue": in Middle-Italian (very difficult, even for specialists) the author uses the words "FORTUNA" and "VIRTU": these two words (f.e.) have NOTHING OR LITTLE IN COMMON with fortune and virtue or virtus. There are about 23 POSSIBLE TRANSLATIONS for the word virtù...
To be a good ruler is not easy. In 26 short chapters the biggest philosopher of the 16th century, Machiavelli describes what the ruler can and/or should do ... to stay 'the ruler', not to lose the power he/she has, in absence of moral and religion: amoral. THAT IS DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN: JUST LOOK AROUND, LISTEN TO THE NEWS, THINK ABOUT GLOBAL PROBLEMS: EVERYWHERE YOU'LL MEET NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, WAVING WITH HIS HAND TO YOU AND TRYING TO MAKE YOU AND US FREE FROM PREJUDICES, WHISPERING WHAT WE SHOULD DO OR NOT.
I have read several editions of Il Principe, but have only one that stays with me since decades now: I read and keep on reading about our ruler forever, so my book will stay with me too.
Last note: The saying "The end justifies the means" is NOT from Machiavelli: it already existed for a few centuries.
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