Machiavelli's The Prince, A Modern Man?
             Of all the political authors and scholars of the Renaissance period, there is always one name that seems to rise above unlike no other than Niccolo Machiavelli. Many have criticized him as being someone of an "evil" person because of his published opinions over politics. However, there are also some people like Alistair McAlpine, who seems to differ in labeling Machiavelli as an "evil" person. McAlpine believes that there is no evidence to suggest that Machiavelli was an evil person. Instead, he feels that Machiavelli understood the capacity for evil that lurks in all of us. McAlpine also stated that Machiavelli did not advocate evil doing, but he was able to accept that "all human activity, and especially politics, will involve evil-doing" (McAlpine xii). The purpose of this paper will be to discuss if Machiavelli's The Prince is a modern man, and if McAlpine would agree with this opinion. I would consider Machiavelli to be a modern man. I say this for several reason!
             s that will be discussed below by using three characteristics of the modern, and conclude why I think that McAlpine would agree with this opinion.
             The first characteristic of the modern that will be discussed in this paper will be Individualism. To start with, individualism can be defined as the belief that all humans are free to make their own choices and live as they would want. In other words, all values, rights, and duties originate within the individual. Individualism is evident throughout his book The Prince. Machiavelli supports this act of individualism by giving the impression that we as humans can control the path that our lives take, not God. We also get the impression that he does agree that there are something's we cannot control, but even then he gives no credit to God or "the Great" (Mansfield 39). Therefore, this can be viewed that all val...