Machiavelli Is Immoral

             One of the great political philosophers of the Renaissance was Nicolo Machiavelli. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Machiavelli was perceived as being devious and unethical. Furthermore, today the term "Machiavellian" denotes ruthless opportunism and the use of manipulative tactics. The source of this negative connotation is his famous treatise on government, The Prince, a short political work that attempts to lay out immoral techniques to secure and maintain power.
             In The Prince, Machiavelli states that humans are self-interested or self-regarding beings. For example, he says that men are generally "ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of danger, and eager to gain. As a long as you serve their interests, they are devoted to you." Machiavelli's theory on human nature is no different from the Sophists, who taught their students that there was no defined set of moral standards for human action beyond the principal of self-interest. According to Machiavelli, mans self-interested and egotistical nature is what makes power politics possible, that is, the ability to control others by compelling their obedience through violent and manipulative means. Throughout The Prince, he gives historical examples of rulers who employed immoral techniques in various situations, which led to the stability of state.
             In chapter three, Machiavelli notes a general principle:
             People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do
             them minor damage they will get revenge; but if you
             cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need
             to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not
             Joseph Stalin followed Machiavelli's advice when he ordered Leon Trotsky to leave the U.S.S.R in 1929, and then possibly playing a role in Trotsky's assassination in 1940. But is this to be considered a moral act? Well, most people would consider this to be
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