Machiavelli

13 August 2008

The virtu of the prince

• Are the qualities that enable a person to master fortune the same as the moral qualities?

• Are the qualities of a prince who will be good for a country the same as the moral qualities?

Mastering fortuna• The world is ruled

partly by fortuna– The constant passions

of men incline them to strife and war

Mastering fortuna• Fortuna, however,

can be mastered if one is bold and adaptable: virtu is excellence in mastering fortune

The virtues of the prince and the good of a country

• Learning how “not to be good”:– Machiavelli as a “teacher of evil” or at least an

amoral analyst of power relations– “Dirty hands” or “lesser of two evils” analysis

Is Machiavelli a teacher of evil?

• His advice is given impartially to all princes

• Many of the actions he recommends are, by his own admission, bad for others

On the other hand…

• He appeals to the prince to liberate Italy in the last chapter of The Prince

On the other hand…

• The true models for imitation by the prince are founders: Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, Romulus

On the other hand…

• Machiavelli prefers republics to dictatorships in the Discourses

An implicit model of the best regime?

• Glory is the main good princes (should) pursue; politics is for politics’ sake

• Glory is especially attained in founding states that are stable, especially in the international arena

• The most stable states are certain kinds of republics (mixed regimes)

Machiavelli’s “Economy of Violence”

• Violence and coercion are an inescapable part of politics; men must be assumed evil

• But if we understand the principles governing its use, we can minimize it– In external politics, we can survive better– In internal politics, we can understand how to

arrange things so that violence is not a constant presence (republican government)

Cruelty vs. mercy

• “No prince should mind being called cruel for what he does to keep his subjects united and loyal” (chapter 17)

• Mercy turns into cruelty when more cruelty needs to be used to prevent the disorder caused by (previous) excessive mercy

• Cruelty well used is mercy, since it diminishes the need for further violence over time

• Cruelty badly used creates hatred

The story of Remirro de Orco

Cruelty well used?

• Pinochet in Chile vs. the Argentine military junta

Honesty and dishonesty

• Rulers should not keep their promises when doing so would be disadvantageous

• But they must understand that “disadvantage” properly

Generosity and stinginess

• Politically, generosity or liberality is extremely expensive because it must be “seen”

• Generosity or liberality will thus involve large taxes on the people, which makes the prince hated

• The hatred of the people is extremely dangerous to the prince

• A reputation for stinginess will eventually be seen as true liberality

Machiavelli’s paradox

• For better politics, you need (certain kinds of) bad people as politicians

Hatred and contempt

• The key thing that a prince must protect himself against is hatred and contempt

• How is being hated different from being feared?

Things that make you hated

• “It makes him hated above all things, as I have said, to be rapacious, and to be a violator of the property and women of his subjects, from both of which he must abstain. And when neither their property nor honour is touched, the majority of men live content, and he has only to contend with the ambition of a few, whom he can curb with ease in many ways” (chapter 19)

Things that make you contemptible

• It makes him contemptible to be considered fickle, frivolous, effeminate, mean-spirited, irresolute, from all of which a prince should guard himself as from a rock; and he should endeavour to show in his actions greatness, courage, gravity, and fortitude; and in his private dealings with his subjects let him show that his judgments are irrevocable, and maintain himself in such reputation that no one can hope either to deceive him or to get round him. (chapter 19)

The stability of states

• Internal stability– The mixed regime

• External stability– Isolation– Expansion

• Rome as the model

Conflict and freedom

• (The right kind of) internal conflict produces freedom

Conflict and freedom

• In every Republic there exist opposing interests which can never be reconciled