Machiavelli and the Prince

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Vishal Khare HUMA 1720 Tutorial 6 Jessica J. Lee 7 November, 2012 Question 4: What does Machiavelli mean by well employed cruelties in The Prince? Does Machiavelli’s argument make sense to you? Why or why not? Are Machiavelli’s thoughts about cruelty relevant today? Why or why not? Machiavellian techniques are admired in today’s politics and corporate structure. In the “Prince”, Machiavelli emphasizes the characteristics of a Prince in an entity and advocates that a prince must exert for the best of the state even if his decisions are unethical and violent. Hence, a Prince must be ready to defend his territory and act not to be virtuous even if it includes destroying the old Prince and manipulating the law and government. Moreover, these arguments are validated for every nation and government since Machiavelli suggests, “the end justifies the means”. These practices have been in existence for ages and will continue for coming generations; these are some of the vital rules that a government must incorporate in order to remain in power for a consistent period of time. Machiavelli states, “he, therefore, who acquires such a state, if he mean to keep it, must see two things; first, that the blood of the ancient line of Princess be destroyed; second, that no change be made in respect of laws and taxes” (Machiavelli 3). He explains that one must be destroyed for the other to stand, if the end is justified a ruler must not hesitate to kill the existent prince and his legacy. Since Spartans to Romans and Greeks to Mughals, it has been identified that this trend is well adopted among the rulers. Moreover, this trend is visible in today’s generation as well where the leaders use assassination to take over a kingdom, for example, George W. Bush conquered Saddam Hussein’s regime to take over Iraq. This example shows that the tendency became a part of our society,
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