Niccolo Machiavelli

Presented by:Evangeline B. Reyes

Business EthicsJuly 16,2011

Fr. F. Roa

Biography• Niccolo di Bernardo dei

Machiavelli, was born at Florence, Italy on May 3, 1469;

• The second son of Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli (a lawyer) and Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, an educated woman who writes poetry.

Biography (cont.)• Married to Marietta Corsini and bore

him with five children• His education (possibly at the

University of Florence) left him with a thorough knowledge of the Latin and Italian classics, and he was trained as a man with great nobility and severe rigour by his father.

• According to Paolo Giovio, Machiavelli received the best part of his classical training from Marcello Adriani, who occupied a chair in the University before his appointment to first chancellorship

• An Italian philosopher, political theorist, diplomat, musician and writer of the Renaissance period.

The RenaissanceRenaissance period (1400-1500)

encompassed a flowering of literature, science, art, religion, and politics, and a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era.

Social Climate

• The Italy of Machiavelli's day had fallen on political hard times. Plagued by terrible corruption, it consisted of several city-states, each operating as an independent republic.

• Florence was the center of some of the greatest artistic achievements the world had ever known, but much like the rest of Italy, its political instability proved to be its downfall. Florence had become a wealthy center of industry, trade, and finance by the early sixteenth century, yet due to its political ineptness, it lacked any sort of capable military force. This combination of economic wealth and military weakness put Florence in an extremely precarious situation since it was surrounded by several hostile city-states, including Milan, Naples, and Venice, as well as the Papal States (areas controlled by the pope).

• a tumultuous period of plots, wars between city states and constantly shifting alliances

Political experience• In 1498 he’s made Head of the

Second Chancery which is primarily concerned with foreign affairs, Adriani begin as the First chancellor early the same year

• In 1513 he was suspected of conspiring against the Medici, he was imprisoned and tortured for several weeks and is released.

• The lack of a job forced him to switch to writing about politics instead of being active.

Machiavelli’s Works

• Machiavelli’s major work includes:– The Prince– The Discourses on the First Ten Books

of Titus Livy – The Art of War– Life of Castuccio Castracani – The History of Florence.– He also wrote some literary works,

among them Mandragola, which is regarded by some critics as the best Italian play of the 1500s.

• he desperately wanted to return to politics. He tried to gain the favor of the Medici by writing a book of what he thought were the Medici's goals and dedicating it to them. And so The Prince was written for that purpose.

• His name has since passed into common usage to refer to any political move that is devious or cunning in nature

Philosophy

The main theme of The Prince is that all means may be resorted to for the establishment and preservation of authority -- the end justifies the means -- and that the worst and most treacherous acts of the ruler are justified by the wickedness and treachery of the governed.

• Machiavelli’s statement here may seem to suggest he is saying that the end or outcome justifies whatever means the prince might use to achieve it, in other words, that a good end makes even the most wicked means morally acceptable.

• What Machiavelli mean here is that people will judge a prince’s means to be good as long as he succeeds and the outcome is beneficial to them.

• Morality may be a good thing, but it is not what drives people’s behavior in the real world.

• If the prince wants to gain and keep political power, he has to do despicable things that cannot really be justified morally by the end he pursues.

• Sometimes the prince must do evil simply because he cannot gain or preserve power, otherwise, but as long as he succeeds and people benefit from it, they will not be upset.

• Machiavelli suggested and supported this pragmatic philosophy only for the purpose of stabilizing and improving governments. Machiavelli specifically stated that this philosophy could not be ethically used by individuals for personal greed, profit, or self improvement.

Application in Business

• Businesses believe that profits are more important than their employees or their customers.

• Companies continue to knowingly harm the environment without care for wildlife, people, or future generations.

• This is obviously wrong, and companies should be made accountable for their actions just like people are, since greed is not a valid excuse for the ends justifying the means.

On Cruelty and Mercy

He was considered cruel, yet, his cruelty brought order to the Romagna, united it, and restored it to peace and loyalty.

A prince, therefore, must not mind acquiring a bad reputation for cruelty in order to keep his subjects united and loyal, for, with very few examples of cruelty, he will be more merciful than those who, because of too much mercy, allow disorders to continue, from which spring killing and plundering, for these usually harm the whole community, while the executions that come from the prince just harm particular individuals.

Cesare Borgia

- Machiavelli believed that any possibly "cruel actions" by governments should be "swift, effective, and short-lived" to decrease the harmful impact on their citizens and to minimize the probability of rebellion.

- Must learn new ‘virtues’ : cunning and deceit, unscrupulous and ruthlessness. These qualities may save the state and with it the ruler’s power.

- Application: Labor unions

Whether It Is Better to be Loved or Feared

- A prince’s training must produce a stark understanding of power. Examination question he must pass:

- Is it better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved?

• It is much safer to be feared than to be loved

• Love is held together by a chain of obligation, which can be broken due to men’s wickedness to serve their self interest

• But fear is maintained by a dread of punishment which never abandons you.

• Nevertheless, a prince must make himself feared in such a way that if he does not gain love, he does avoid hatred, for to be feared and not to be hated can go very well together.

• Application: An autocratic leader

How Princes Must Keep Their Word

• There are two methods of fighting, one with laws, the other with force: the first one is proper to man, the second to beast; but because the first one often does not suffice, one has to have recourse to the second. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince to know well how to use the beast and the man.

• Since a prince must know well how to use the nature of the beast, he must choose the fox and the lion.

• The lion cannot defend himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves

• It is therefore necessary to be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten the wolves

• Therefore, a prudent ruler cannot, must not, keep his word, when keeping it would work against him, and when the reason which made him promise it have been removed.

• If men were all good, this precept would not be good, but since they are sadly wicked and would not keep their word to you, you also do not have to keep it to them.

• Nothing is gained if one’s lying and deceit become obvious. Machiavelli pointed out that misfortune can be avoided by learning well the arts of disguise. One can appear to be ‘all mercy, faith, integrity, humanity and religion’ even when one is not. No prince should deviate from what is good, if possible, but be able to do evil if constrained . Thus, a shrewd ruler will utilize violence efficiently, speedily, and without remorse when the need arises.

• Life is a conflict of forces, a fight for survival, a power struggle

• A political leader must guard his strength to stay in power.

• Any prince who wants to survive cannot afford to be too virtuous. Far from being totally honest, completely fair, wholly truthful, consistently just and the like.

• Wise ruler must learn how not to be good while always ‘appearing‘

• Application: Business competition

Critique• When Machiavelli lost his office,

he desperately wanted to return to politics. He tried to gain the favor of the Medici by writing a book of what he thought were the Medici's goals and dedicating it to them.

• Machiavelli had been unfairly attacked all of his life because of a bad reputation. But it only got worse after he died. He was continually blasted for his "support" of corrupt ruling. In fact, Machiavellian now means corrupt government.

Reflection• Considering the social and political

situation in Machiavelli’s time, we have to understand his aim of showing how a leader can control unruly citizens in a way that serves the best interest of the latter. What he observed of the world made Machiavelli more realistic, and more pessimistic. Machiavelli made it clear that he based his views on historical experience, a perspective he had acquired through long observation of modern events and a constant study of the past.

Closing

• In this present world all of us are affected, since we are obliged to accept lies, deceitful deeds, and the appearance of virtue without the substance. This are some of the realities that we must face and deal with when we are to answer the question:

Can I make society better?

Thank you for your time.

References• Quentin, S. (1981). Machiavelli. Oxford University Press.• Rebhorn, W. (2004). The Prince and Other Writings Niccolo

Machiavelli, Barnes and Noble Classics, New York.• http://www.ctbw.com/lubman.htm retrieved: 6/21/11• http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/machiavelli.html retrieved :

6/22/11• http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm

retrieved: 6/22/11• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/ retrieved: 7/9/11• http://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_machiavelli.html

retrieved: 7/9/11• http://www.pbs.org/empires/medici/renaissance/machiavelli.html

retrieved 7/9/11• http://cnx.org/content/m11975/latest/ retrieved: 7/9/11• http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anand_Mann retrieved: 7/11/11• : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance retrived 7/12/11