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Il Principe (The Prince) is the famous text by Florentine public servant Niccolo Machiavelli, in which he outlines the best strategy by which a prince can acquire, maintain and protect his state. Published posthumously, the text departs from his previous works, but is that for which he is remembered, and which has produced the adjective "Machiavellian". Machiavelli directives for maintaining a secure state are direct and at times brutal, taking the view that the ends justify the means.
2below: Each one is fascinating in its own right but I think reading both (or reading them concurrently, as I did) provides an interesting perspective on two seemingly opposed extremes.
timoroso: Guicciardini, a friend and colleague of Machiavelli, wrote a book of maxims sometimes profound in themselves, other times interesting to compare to Machiavelli's opinions. The subject matter for both is essentially the same: how to act in a politically and ethically thoroughly unstable world.… (more)
MeisterPfriem: Münkler discusses and places Machiavelli in the context of the political and economic realities facing Florence in the second half of the 15th century as well as within the intellectual history of political thought from Antiquity and Medieval ages. This is an immensely thorough work. Published in 1982 it takes into consideration all important relevant literature .… (more)
Highly inductive, applying a relatively narrow reading of classical (well, Roman) history to a narrower aspect of Italian history, written to persuade Lorenzo de Medici to hire its out-of-work courtier author, who was previously allied to the Borgias . A job application that has survived as a work of literature because, I suspect, it is so illuminating as to the politics of Italy during the Renaissance, and because of its cynical views on human nature - which are surely the author's own. And of course it was valued by several prominent authors who came after. Not a book that is wrong so much as it is highly specific: for those not attempting to run a small Italian republic in the sixteenth century, it is of lesser utility. ( )
Not at all what I was expecting. "Machiavellian" is used so often to describe cut-throat behaviour that you would think the book would be more relevant to general life principles. Sadly, it is really intended for princes and those in monarchies. Unless you are looking for an obscure history lesson in 15th century Italy, I would find something more relevant. ( )
First edition - paperback with staple binding. Humourous but unfriendly quotations by and about then Liberal Party Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser listed under Machiavellian themes.
a classic, but not a great one; probably good at the time but very much a historical text - i found it to be quite dull and probably a somewhat inferior text to other analyses of politics since. however, as a groundbreaking text, i suppose it holds much credit simply in pioneering many of its ideas, and on the meta-level i found the way machiavelli constructs the 'virtus' as the synthesis between moral and practical achievement to be interesting. ( )
Kad je reč o umešnosti vladanja, ovo nezaobilazno delo bilo je i ostalo neprevaziđeno. Postalo je pojam!
Delo nastalo na velikom raskršću istorije, kada se odlučno odbacuje srednjovekovno metafizičko učenje i usvajaju empirički metodi razmišljanja, predstavlja ujedno fascinantno svedočanstvo razlaza između mita i realnosti, između vere i sumnje. Ovaj biser renesansne političke misli karakteriše realistično posmatranje političkih događaja i visoke moralne pobude koje su inspirisale autora. Vladalac je samo prividno apoteoza tiranina i kodeks pravila za ubijanje, čitav traktat o vladaocu svodi se na to da se u Italiji pronađe čovek koji će je ujediniti. Život i delo ovog poznatog firentinca obeležavaju kao teoretičara o osnivanju i održavanju država.
Niccolo Machiavelli to Lorenzo the Magnificent, Son of Piero di Medici
First words
All the states, all the dominions under whose authority men have lived in the past and live now have been and are either republics or principalities.
It is customary for those who wish to gain the favour of a prince to endeavour to do so by offering him gifts of those things which they hold most precious, or in which they know him to take especial delight.
Quotations
Last words
Valour against fell wrath Will take up arms; and be the combat quickly sped! For, sure, the ancient worth, That in Italians stirs the heart, is not yet dead.
Il Principe (The Prince) is the famous text by Florentine public servant Niccolo Machiavelli, in which he outlines the best strategy by which a prince can acquire, maintain and protect his state. Published posthumously, the text departs from his previous works, but is that for which he is remembered, and which has produced the adjective "Machiavellian". Machiavelli directives for maintaining a secure state are direct and at times brutal, taking the view that the ends justify the means.
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Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli nacque a Firenze il 3 maggio del 1469. Terzo figlio dei guelfi Bernardo e Bartolomea Nelli, iniziò a studiare latino quando aveva sette anni. In seguito si dedicò anche allo studio di altre discipline, tra cui la grammatica, la matematica e l’aritmetica. Fin da giovane nutrì un forte interesse per la politica, passione che lo portò a ricoprire la carica di segretario della Seconda Cancelleria della Repubblica Fiorentina, intrattenendo rapporti diplomatici con la Francia e con altri paesi stranieri e svolgendo un ruolo fondamentale nella vita politica fiorentina di quel periodo. Mantenne l’incarico fino al 1512, quando i Medici rientrarono a Firenze. Esiliato dal mondo politico, Machiavelli si dedicò alla scrittura. In questo periodo iniziò “Discorsi sulla prima Deca di Tito Livio” e scrisse quella che divenne la sua opera più conosciuta, il “De principatibus”, divenuto successivamente noto con il titolo “Il Principe”. Nonostante i numerosi tentativi di rientrare a svolgere un ruolo attivo nella politica fiorentina, tutti i suoi sforzi risultarono vani. Storico, drammaturgo, filosofo, e uno dei maggiori teorici della politica italiani di tutti i tempi, Niccolò Machiavelli morì a Firenze il 21 giugno del 1527. (piopas)
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Wikipedia in English (7)
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