History of Ideas: Niccolò Machiavelli

The discussion points are based on my pages: Niccolò Machiavelli and Quotations of Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli has a fairly negative image, partly because of the definition of the word Machiavellian: "cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics." However, hopefully you will have a more sophisticated view of his ideas by the end of the session.

I would like you to consider the following issues. I have pointed out the relevant notes in the text and the numbers of the primary sources that deal with the subject.

(1) Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire

Notes (20, 25, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38) Primary Sources (7, 8, 9, 10, 18, 25, 26)

In both The Discourses on Livy (1531) and The Prince (1532) and Machiavelli spends some time writing about the merits of the Roman Empire. Do you agree with his analysis?

(2) Political Advisers

Notes (6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21) Primary Sources (8, 22, 23)

Is has been claimed that Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a job application, when he was seeking work as an adviser to Florence’s ruling family, the Medici. Machiavelli clearly believed political advisers were vitally important to the success of any government. Recently, we had the example of Dominic Cummings. Is it acceptable in a democracy for a political adviser to have so much power? Or is it an issue of whether you agree or disagree with the political adviser working for the government.

(3) Propaganda & Government

Notes (28, 29, 30, 35) Primary Sources (20, 21, 26)

Machiavelli believed that all political rulers needed to make good use of political propaganda. He suggested that it is not important for a ruler to be virtuous (merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright) but it is important to appear to be virtuous: "It is necessary to know well how to disguise this characteristic, and to be a great pretender and dissembler; and men are so simple, and so subject to present necessities, that he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived... For this reason a prince ought to take care that he never lets anything slip from his lips that is not replete with the above-named five qualities."

Machiavelli argued in The Prince: "A prince, therefore, being compelled knowingly to adopt the beast, ought to choose the fox and the lion; because the lion cannot defend himself against snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves. Those who rely simply on the lion do not understand what they are about."

Bertrand Russell makes the point that to Machiavelli everything was ultimately about power. "To achieve a political end, power, of one kind or another, is necessary. The plain fact is concealed by slogans, such as 'right will prevail' or 'the triumph of evil is short-lived'. If the side that you think right prevails, that is because it has superior power. It is true that power, often, depends upon opinion, and opinion upon propaganda; it is true, also, that it is an advantage in propaganda to seem more virtuous than your adversary, and that one way of seeming virtuous is to be virtuous. For this reason, it may sometimes happen that victory goes to the side which has the most of what the general public considers to be virtue... Those who have seized power can, by controlling propaganda, cause their party to appear virtuous."

If we look back in history it is fairly easy to see plenty of examples of rulers who have used propaganda to persuade people to believe things that are not true. However, is it still true today in your own country?

(4) Loved or Feared

Notes (26) Primary Source (19)

Machiavelli argues that for a ruler, the key question is it "better to be loved than feared or feared than loved?" Machiavelli states: "It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with... Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred."

In a modern democracy we rarely fear our rulers, but what about other relationships? Is it better to love or fear our boss, our parents, our partners?

(5) The Importance of Historians

Notes (26) Primary Sources (28, 38, 39, 42, 43)

Machiavelli believed that the historian plays an important role in understanding the world. Machiavelli was a republican who hated Julius Caesar for destroying that form of government in Rome. Caesar was able to disguise what he had done by controlling what appeared in the history books. "Nor let any one finding Caesar celebrated by a crowd of writers, be misled by his glory; for those who praise him have been corrupted by good fortune, and overawed by the greatness of that empire which, being governed in his name, would not suffer any to speak their minds openly concerning him. But let him who desires to know how historians would have written of Caesar had they been free to declare their thoughts mark what they say of Catiline, than whom Caesar is more hateful, in proportion as he who does is more to be condemned than he who only desires to do evil. Let him see also what praises they lavish upon Brutus, because being unable, out of respect for his power, to reproach Caesar, they magnify his enemy."

Machiavelli was a historian because it enabled him to safely criticise his own government. He took the advice of his friend, Francesco Guicciardini who suggested to Machiavelli that he should concentrate on writing histories as you can comment indirectly on present follies, more freely than if you speak outright of your own times. Names and details change, but not basic human motives and errors, which one sees are much the same in every time and place; and "changing the names and forms of things means that only the prudent recognize them". In other words, realising that in narrating the past you are discussing the present.

With this in mind what do you think of the following quotations:

(1) "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards". Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

(2) “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana (1863-1952)

(3) “The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present.” G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

(4) “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

(5) “History free of all values cannot be written. Indeed, it is a concept almost impossible to understand, for men will scarcely take the trouble to inquire laboriously into something which they set no value upon”. Herbert R. Finberg (1900-1974)

(6) "We get our ethics from our history and judge our history by our ethics." Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923)

(6) Different Types of Government

Notes (18, 19, 22, 25, 34, 35, 36, 40) Primary Sources (9, 13, 24, 28)

Machiavelli believed there were three main forms of government: Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy. However, he pointed out "Monarchy readily becomes a Tyranny, an Aristocracy an Oligarchy, while a Democracy tends to degenerate into Anarchy. So that if the founder of a State should establish any one of these three forms of Government, he establishes it for a short time only, since no precaution he may take can prevent it from sliding into its contrary, by reason of the close resemblance which, in this case, the virtue bears to the vice."

Do you agree with Machiavelli or do you think we have found a way of making democracy work? Can you make any suggestions of how we could develop a better system of democracy?

(7) Religion & Government

Notes (21, 23, 24, 44) Primary Sources (14, 26)

On his death-bed Machiavelli was asked if he wanted to confess his sins. He replied "I'd rather burn in Hell for all eternity with the second lot than suffer in Paradise with the first." Like all people living in the 16th century Machiavelli had to give the impression of being a Christian. However, in his private correspondence it is clear he had little respect for religion. He once said: "We Italians are more irreligious and corrupt than others... because the Church and its representatives set us the worst example."

A close reading of the texts of The Discourses on Livy (1531) and The Prince (1532) indicates his doubts. In Chapter XI of The Prince (1532) he says: "But being upheld by powers, to which the human mind cannot reach, I shall speak no more of them, because, being exalted and maintained by God, it would be the act of a presumptuous and rash man to discuss them."

In April 1533, Henry VIII appointed Thomas Cromwell as Chancellor of the Exchequer. According to Cardinal Reginald Pole, Cromwell had praised the political ideas of Machiavelli. Cardinal Pole, the leading Catholic in England, fled to Italy and in 1538 travelled to Florence with the intention of reading Machiavelli's The Prince. On acquiring a copy, Pole began to read with fascination, then growing horror. "I had scarcely begun to read the book, when I recognized the finger of Satan, though it bore the name of a human author and was written in a discernibly human style." Pole declared, the book Cromwell so admired is full of "things that stink of Satan's every wickedness... I found this type of book to be written by an enemy of the human race. It explains every means whereby religion, justice and any inclination toward virtue could be destroyed".

During this period the term "Old Nick" (chief spirit of evil and adversary of God) began to be used. This was a reference to Niccolò Machiavelli. In 1557, in its efforts to deal with the outbreak of heresies encouraged by the Reformation, Pope Paul IV established an Index of Prohibited Books. The decree forbade all books written by certain authors or published by certain printers. This included all the books published by Machiavelli. It caused a great burning of the books throughout Italy. Machiavelli remained on the Index of Prohibited Books until 1890.

The Church had much power in the 16th century than it does today. However, does it still have too much power over the way we live and think?

(8) Niccolò Machiavelli: An Assessment

Notes (45, 56, 57, 58) Primary Sources (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35)

Read the thoughts of Bertrand Russell (29), Garrett Mattingly (30), George Bull (31), Erica Benner (32 & 33) and Anthony Grayling (34). Who provides the best summing up of your views on Machiavelli?