Brief biography of Nikcolo Makiavelli. Political philosophy Machiavelli
Nikcolo Makiavelli (1469-1527) is a prominent representative of all prosaic, partly and poetic genres in the classical period of Italian literature. At his tomb in the Florentine Church of Santa Croce, the inscription was made: "No praise worthy of him." This opinion about him is explained by his fiery and disinterested patriotism. Repulsive concepts set by him in the treatise " Sovereign»They become clear if we recall the then the state of Italy, tormented by civilians and ingenic invasions. Emperor and Dad, Germans, French, Spaniards, the Swiss devastated Italy; Wars began treacherously, peace treaties were concluded only in order to be disturbed. There was not a single sovereign who would keep his promises; Good faith in political affairs did not exist. Under these impressions, the political principles of Machiavelli were developed. It is not surprising that they are alien to all the rules of honesty. Makiavelli sincerely expressed what he thought. His "sovereign" is the presentation of the system, which then held all the governments, bored among themselves in Italy.
Portrait of Nikcolo Makiavelli. Artist Santi di Tito, the second half of the XVI century
Nikcola Makiavelli - prominent Italian politician, historian, military theorist and philosopher, founder of "the teachings of political realism".
Makiavelli was born in Florence. From 1498 to 1512 He was in the public service as secretary of the second office of the Florentine Republic. During this period, Machiavelli acquired experience and knowledge of political institutions, human morals, which was reflected in his writings.
The most important problems of the Maciavell philosophy were the reasons for the elevation and death of states, the conditions for creating a strong state, the role of the ruler in it, the influence of the person on the course of historical events, the motives of human actions. The main works of Machiavelli "Sovereign", "reasoning on the first decade of Tita Libya", "Dialogue on Military Art."
State Theory Machiavelli
Machiavelli One of the first philosophers of the Renaissance rejected the theocratic concept of the state, according to which the state depends on the church as the highest power on Earth. He believed that political systems were born, they achieve greatness and power, and then decline, decompose and dying, i.e. Do not depend on the divine predestination. The state and nature of the laws reigning in it, says Makiavelli, it is necessary to understand, relying on the mind and experience.
Makiavelli claims that socio-legal views, civil virtues of people, can only bring up the state, and not the church. On the contrary, the church loosened the states of state power, trying to combine spiritual and secular power in their hands, weakened in people the desire to serve as a state. The state is the highest manifestation of the human spirit; In serving, Makiavelli sees the goal and the happiness of human life.
The best form of state of Machiavelli considers the republic, but its establishment is possible only under certain specific historical conditions. Critically evaluating the political position of its country, the nature of citizens, completely deprived of civil virtues, Machiavelli comes to the conclusion about the impossibility of uniting Italy under a single republican government. He is convinced that Italian reality requires the establishment of one-owned and creating a strong independent national state.
In the treatise "Sovereign", Machiavelli considers ways to create a strong state. He believes that to achieve this goal you can use any means, including violence, murder, deception, betrayal. Thus, Machiavelli belongs to the justification of the principle: the goal justifies the means according to which the funds used by the policy are justified by the goals that it sets itself.
Approval of the strong state of Machiavelli brings morality and the benefit of a separate person. Moral principles apply only to the privacy of people, but not to politics. State interest above all. Makiavelli wrote that he was always when he had to discuss the question of which the only depends on the salvation of the state should not be stopped by any considerations of justice or injustice, humanity or cruelty, glory or shame. Subsequently, the term "Makiavelism" appeared, denoting policies, which neglects the laws of morality and, when achieving political purposes, uses anti-human means.
With this vision of the state, a special role in it belongs to the ruler.
The doctrine of political power and qualities that the ruler must have
The rule of the ruler in the understanding of Machiavelli is distinguished by an unlimited character. The basis of the Board and the right is the force that destroys everything that contradicts state interests (the ideal of strong power). That is why the ruler in its activities can ignore the laws of morality.
Also, the sovereign must take into account the evil nature of man. The philosopher believes that the incentive motives of people are egoism and material interest. People, in Machiavelli, "ungrateful, non-permanent peepers, run from dangers, larger" and rather will forget the death of the father than the deprivation of property.
Makiavelli believes that "everyone recognizes that it would be best if they found a prince with all the qualities recognized for the good, but since to have them all and steadily do not allow the terms of human existence, the prince should be so prone to To be able to avoid the shame of those vices that could deprive his state ... and he may also not be afraid of condemnation for those vices, without which it is difficult to keep the state. "
The head of state "should not be considered with reproaches in cruelty, if only such a fame is necessary in order to keep subjects in union and obedience. After all, limiting the very few exemplary punishments will be the mercifully of those that, due to inappropriate mercy, allow you to grow up to the unrest, generating murders and robbery, for the latter are disaster for the whole society in aggregate, the karas emanating from the prince concern only individuals. "
And what is better for the ruler - to be loved or inspire fear? Of course, it would be good to love him, and were afraid. However, since it is very difficult to combine these two feelings, it is simply impossible, it is better to be afraid. "Love is supported only by the attitude of the responsibility that is rushing due to the viciousness of people with any collision with personal interest, fear of fear of punishment, which never stops his actions." At the same time, the sovereign must inspire fear without hate.
Like the fire, the sovereign must take care of frivolous, unwell, indecisive. He must attach all the efforts to ensure that his decision is irrevocably, and that the general opinion about him was such that anyone and to the head will come to deceive him. As for the loyalty to their promises, the ruler may neglect them if such compliance may apply against him and the interests of the state.
Summing up, it is necessary to note the ambiguity of the socio-philosophical views of Machiavelli. On the one hand, his approach to the problem of the state from secular positions was an important contribution to the development of the state of state and power, based on these history and taking into account the real political situation. On the other hand, Machiavelli acts as a supporter of the idea that any funds are allowed to achieve political goals. The state of state, in his opinion, may be associated with violence, murder, deception, disregard by moral principles. However, this is impossible, since the benefit of the state can only be achieved on moral and legal values.
Nikcolo Makiavelli, Italian political thinker, writer, historian, military theoretics Born in 1469 in Florence in the impoverished noble family.
In 1498, he became the secretary of the "Council of Ten" (the Council of Ten was engaged only by the protection of the political and social structure of the Venetian commune) of the Florentine Republic, performed important diplomatic orders. (When the family of Medici usurped power in Florence) after the power was replaced in Florence, Makiavelli was in opal, in 1513 he was accused of conspiracy and arrested. Subsequently, the arrest was replaced by reference. Being a link in his country estate, Makiavelli wrote several works on philosophy, political history and the theory of military affairs.
The most significant treatise "On Military Art" (1521), the books "reasoning about the first decade of Libya Tita" (1531) and the "History of Florence" (1532). Worldwide fame brought him a treatise "On the Soviet" ("Prince", 1532).
A convinced patriot, Makiavelli believed that all the troubles of Italy occur due to fragmentation and civil engineers, and saw the salvation of Italy only in an unlimited state of the sovereign, which is not taking into account any requirements of morality and justice, the interests of the Church and the well-being of subjects.
The system of politics that does not stop neither before to achieve the target target received the name of Machiavelism. Maciavelli's sovereign is a reasonable politician, in practice, the rules of political struggle leading to the achievement of the goal, to political success.
Monarch may be in such conditions that will require extremely cruel and inhuman measures. Extremely evil requires extreme measures, so it should be avoided anywhere in half and compromises that will not serve anything, but on the contrary, only extremely harmful. A man in itself is neither good nor bad. Consequently, the politician cannot rely on a positive in man, but should, taking into account and negative, to act in accordance with them.
No need to be afraid to seem frightening. Of course, the perfect sovereign should be adored and inspiring fear at the same time, but these things are difficult compatible, and therefore the sovereign chooses the most effective method.
The sovereign should be virtuous, but the virtue is political, in Machiavelli, is not at all the fact that the virtue of Christian. "Virtue is the power and health, trick and energy, the opportunity to foresee, plan, forced, it is the strongest will, which puts the dam to the full spill of events ..., people are controlled by littleness, infidelity, greed, madness, impermanence in intentions, unbearable, The inability to suffer for the achievement of the goal ..., barely only a stick or whip falls out of the hands of the master, immediately the order is violated, the subjects are thrown and betrayed their sovereign.
Doctrine Nikcolo Makiavelli often reduce the formula "The goal justifies funds." It is unlikely to be true in relation to the author of the "state". This principle has a later origin. Makiavelli never formulated him, he does not follow from the entire context of his creativity.
Makiavelli shared the faith of most humanists into the creative possibilities of a person. According to his concept, a strong personality is able to withstand random coincidences, opposing their will and insight to them. He believed that an outstanding person could withstand any blows of blind fate and create a story. In his writings, the system of dynastic politics dominated then, as the only right one. His books had enormous success in contemporaries.
As a historian, he made a great contribution to the development of historiography. He was looking for historical patterns, a deep causal connection between events and considered the story as a clash of "eternal" passions and interests, individuals and estates. The most important driving force of history considered the political struggle, and the way to predict is a study of history.
"To find out what should happen, it is enough to trace what was ... This comes from the fact that all human affairs are made by people who have and will always have the same passions and therefore will inevitably have to give the same results."
The Italian writer and philosopher Machiavelli Niccolo was an important statesman in Florence, holding the post of secretary that was responsible for conducting foreign policy. But much greater fame, he was brought by the books written by him, among which the political treatise "Sovereign" is worth a mansion.
Biography writer
The future writer and thinker Machiavelli Niccolo was born in the suburb of Florence in 1469. His father was a lawyer. He did everything so that the Son would be the best education at that time. For this purpose there was no place for the best than Italy. The main storehouse of knowledge for Machiavelli was the Latin language in which he read a huge amount of literature. Desktop books for him were the works of ancient authors: Macrobia, Cicero, as well as Libya Titus. The young man was fond of history. Later, these tastes were reflected in his own creativity. The works for the writer were the works of the ancient Greeks of Plutarch, Polybia and Fukidid.
Makiavelli Niccolo began its civil service at a time when Italy suffered from wars between numerous cities, principalities and republics. A special place was held by Pope, which at the turn of the XV and XVI centuries. It was not just a religious pontiff, but also a significant political figure. The fragmentation of Italy and the absence of a single national state did the rich cities of the gathering piece for other major powers - France, the Sacred Roman Empire and gaining the power of colonial Spain. The ball of interest was very difficult, which led to the emergence and termination of political unions. The fateful and bright events, whose witness became Makiavelli Niccolo, were greatly influenced not only on his professionalism, but also to the worldview.
Philosophical views
The ideas set out by Machiavelli in his books significantly influenced the perception of politics by society. The author became the first to consider in detail and described all the models of the behavior of the rulers. In the book "Sovereign", he directly stated that the political interests of the state should prevail on agreements and other conventions. Because of this point of view, the thinker is considered an exemplary cynic that will not stop before the sake of achieving its goal. State unprincipled, he explained to the service of the highest good purpose.
Nikcoto Makiavelli, whose philosophy was born as a result of personal impressions of the state of Italian society began the XVI century, not only reasoned about the benefits of a particular strategy. On the pages of their books, he described in detail the structure of the state, the principles of its work and relationship within this system. The thinker suggested the thesis about that the policy is a science that has its own laws and rules. Nikcolo Makiavelli believed that a person, perfectly mastered this subject, could predict the future or determine the outcome of a process (war, reform, etc.).
The importance of Machiavelli ideas
The Florentine Writer of the Renaissance has introduced many new topics to the humanitarian science. Its dispute about feasibility and compliance with moral standards has put a sharp question over which many philosophical schools and teachings are arguing.
The arguments about the role of the personality of the ruler in history also first appeared from under the pen Niccolo Makiavelli. The ideas of the thinker led him to the conclusion that in feudal fragmentation (in which Italy was abose) The nature of the sovereign replaces all the power institutions, which causes the inhabitants of his country. In other words, in a fragmented state, paranoia or weakness ruler leads to ten times the worst consequences. For his life, Machiavelli saw enough such pictorial examples thanks to Italian principalities and the republics, where the power swung from side aside as a pendulum. Often, such oscillations led to war and other disasters, which are most of all beat along the simple population.
History of "Soviet"
It should be noted that the "Sovereign" treatise was written as a classical application for use intended for Italian politicians. A similar presentation style made a book unique for his time. It was carefully systematized work, in which all thoughts set out in the form of theses, supported by real examples and logical reasoning. "Sovereign" was published in 1532, five years after the death of Niccolo Makiavelli. The views of the former Florentine official immediately found a response from the widest public.
The book has become a desktop for many politicians and statesmen of subsequent centuries. It is actively reprinted until now and is one of the pillars of humanitarian sciences dedicated to the Company and the Institutions of Power. The main material for writing the book was the experience of falling the Florentine Republic, which survived Niccolo Makiavelli. The tract quotes were included in different textbooks on which they were taught civil servants from different Italian principalities.
Healthiness of power
The author divided his work to 26 chapters, in each of which was addressed to this or that political issue. The deep knowledge of the history of Nikcolo antique authors often come across the pages) made it possible to prove their guesses on the experience of the ancient era. For example, he devoted a whole chapter by the fate of the Persian Tsar Daria, who captured in his essay the writer gave an assessment of the state falling and led several arguments about why the country was not rebelled after the death of the young commander.
The question of the types of heredity of power was very interested in Niccolo Makiavelli. The policy, in his opinion, was directly dependent on how the throne moves from the predecessor to the successor. If the throne is transferred to a reliable way, the state will not threaten the troubles and crises. At the same time, the book contains several ways to hold tyranny power, the author of which was Niccolo Makiavelli. Briefly speaking, the sovereign may move to a new captured territory in order to directly follow the local moods. A vivid example of such a strategy was the fall of Constantinople in 1453, when Turkish Sultan suffered his capital to this city and renamed it to Istanbul.
Preservation of state
The author tried to explain in detail the reader how the captured foreign country can be held. For this, according to the theses of the writer, there are two ways - military and peaceful. At the same time, both methods are permissible, and they need to be able to combine to simultaneously task and scare the population. Makiavelli was a supporter of creating colonies on acquired lands (approximately as the ancient Greeks or Italian seasons). In the same chapter, the author brought the golden rule: the sovereign needs to maintain the weak and weaken strong to maintain balance within the country. The lack of powerful opposing movements helps to preserve the power of a monopoly on violence in the state, which is one of the main signs of reliable and stable rule.
So described ways to solve this problem Nikcolo Makiavelli. The writer's philosophy has formed as a totality of his own management experience in Florence and historical knowledge.
The role of personality in history
Since Machiavelli paid much attention The question of the importance of personality in history, he also compiled a short essay of those qualities that the effective sovereign should have. The Italian writer focused on the misfortune, criticizing the generous rulers who traveled their treasury wasted. As a rule, such autocrats are forced to resort to increasing taxes in the event of a war or another critical situation, which is extremely annoying the population.
Machiavelli justified the rigidity of the rulers within the state. He believed that this particular policy helps the society to avoid unnecessary unrest and see. If, for example, the sovereign is premature the executing of people prone to meer, he will kill a few people, while saving the rest of the population from unnecessary bloodshed. In this thesis, the example of the author's philosophy is repeated again about the suffering of certain people, nothing compared to the interests of the whole country.
The need for rigidity of the rulers
The Florentine writer often repeated the idea that the human nature is inconvenient, and most of the people around are a collection of weak and greedy creatures. Therefore, the Machiavelli continued, the sovereign must inspire a reverent fear among his subjects. This will preserve the discipline within the country.
As an example, he brought the experience of the legendary antique commander of Hannibal. With the help of cruelty, he supported the order in his multinational troops, for several years fought at the Roman alien. Moreover, it was not tyranny, because even executions and violence over the guilty of violation of laws were fair, and no matter if their position could not get immunity. Makiavelli believed that the cruel of the ruler is justified, only if it is not frankly robbery and violence against women.
Death of thinker
After writing a "sovereign", the famous thinker of the last years of his life devoted to the creation of the "History of Florence", in which he returned to his beloved genre. He died in 1527. Despite the posthumous fame of the author, the place of his grave is still unknown.
About personality.
Nikolo Makiavelli is an Italian thinker, philosopher, writer, politician.
"As an artist, when he draws a landscape, it is necessary to go down to the valley to cover the hills and mountains, and climb the mountain to cover the valley and here: to comprehend the essence of the people, it is necessary to be a sovereign, but to comprehend the nature of the sovereigns, Need to belong to the people. " These words are practically completed by a small entry, which precedes the treatise "Sovereign", which Nikolo Makiavelli was presented to the ruler of Florence Lorenzo II Medici. From that time, nearly 500 years have passed, and you failed to erase from the human name of the person who wrote a textbook for the monarchs of all times and peoples. He was incredibly ambiguous, pragmatic and zinic. This is well known. But many of whether they know that this "villain", who argued that "the goal justifies the funds," was a person honest, hardworking, endowed with the striking intuition and the ability to enjoy life. Probably, this fact could be quite obvious, do not end up familiarizing with the person of Machiavelli reading and quoting individual fragments of his scandalous "sovereign". And it's a pity, because this person deserves much more attention, he is already interested in what he had a chance to be born in Florence the Renaissance of the Epoch.
Nikolo Makiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in the village of San Kasano, near the city-state Florence, now in Italy, and was the second son of Bernardo di Nikolo Makiavelli (1426-1500), a lawyer, and bartolometry di Stefano Neli (1441-1496). His education gave him a complete knowledge of the Latin and Italian classics. Makiavelli lived in a restless era, when Dad could have a whole army, and the rich city-states of Italy fell alone by another under the authority of foreign states - France, Spain and the Sacred Roman Empire. It was the time of constant change of unions, mercenaries, moving towards the opponent's side without a warning, when the power, having existed for several weeks, collapsed and replaced by a new one. Perhaps the most significant event in the series of these disorderly coups was the fall of Rome in 1527. Rich cities, like Florence and Genoa, suffered about the same as Rome 12 centuries ago, when he was burned by the Army of Barbars-Germanians. In 1494, Florence restored the Florentine republic and expelled the Medici family, the city rulers for almost 60 years. 4 years later, Makiavelli appeared in the public service as a secretary and ambassador (in 1498). Machiavelli was included in the Council responsible for diplomatic negotiations and military affairs. Between 1499 and 1512, he undertook a lot of diplomatic missions to the court of Louis XII, Ferdinand II and Pope. From 1502 to 1503, Machiavelli witnessed the effective city-built methods of the Cesbon Slerger Cesbon Bordjia, an extremely capable military man and a statesman, the purpose of which at that time was to expand its possessions in Central Italy. The main tools were courage, prudence, confidence in their forces, hardness, and sometimes cruelty. In 1503-1506, Machiavelli was responsible for the Florentine militia, including the protection of the city. He did not trust the mercenaries (the position explained in detail in the "reasoning on the first decade of Tita Libya" and in the "sizard") and preferred a militia formed from citizens. In August 1512, after an entangled series of battles, agreements and unions of the Medici with the help of Pope Julia II restored power in Florence, and the republic was canceled. The mindset of Machiavelli in recent years of service is evidenced by his letters, in particular, to Francesco Veat.
Makiavelli was in Opal and in 1513 was accused of conspiracy and arrested. In spite of everything, he rejected his involvement and was ultimately released. He retired to his estate near Florence and began to write treatises, which provided him in the history of political philosophy. In 1522, a new conspiracy against Medici is revealed, and Machiavelli hardly manage to avoid accusations of involvement in Him. The hopes for obtaining a post at least from Lorenzo II Medici, who ruled in Florence from the end of 1513 after the departure of Giovanni Medici in Rome, was not justified. He was offered to become secretary of Cardinal Prospero Column in 1522, but he refused - he was too strong was his dislike for churchmen. He was called to France, but it was excluded for Maciavelly - he did not want to leave Florence. Later he said about this: "I prefer to die with hunger in Florence than from the indentation of the stomach in Fontainebleau." In 1525, Machiavelli came to Rome to hand over to the Pope by the VII, by order of which he wrote the "Florence story", its first eight books. In 1526 over Italy, the threat of Spanish invasion was hung over Italy, in connection with this, Machiavelli offered the city authorities a project to strengthen the city walls, which was necessary to produce in the case of a possible defense of the city. This project was not just adopted - Niccolo Makiavelli appointed secretary and providing a collegium of five, specially created for working to strengthen the city. Machiavelli, not looking at the severity of the situation, felt overwhelmed. Further events only strengthen its hope that he can still find an application on a political field. On May 4, 1527, German Landsknecht was captured and mercilessly looted by Rome, Florence almost immediately "responded" to this event with a real uprising against the home of Medici, as a result of which the republic was restored. Feeling the opportunity to continue the civil service, Makiavelli nominates his candidacy for the post of Chancellor of the Florentine Republic and with trepidation is waiting for his fate. On May 10 of the same year, the question of his election was put on the Big Council of the Republic, specially convened on the occasion of elections. The meeting of the Council, much more like a court, than on democratic debate, ended in the fact that Machiavelli was accused of excessive scholarships, a tendency to unnecessary philosophizing, arrogance and blasphemy. For the candidacy of Machiavelli, 12 votes were filed, against - 555. This decision was for a 58-year-old, still full strength, a man with the last blow, his spirit was broken, and life lost every meaning. A few weeks later, June 21, 1527, Niccolo Makiavelli left this world.
In "reasoning about the first decade of Tita Libya", completed Machiavelli in 1516, and tested to the epoch all their life revered by the ancient classics, there are such words: "... I will express boldly and open everything that I know about new and ancient times so that the souls of young people who read by me would turn away from the first and learned to imitate the last ... After all, the duty of every honest person - to teach others to be good, which, because of the difficult times and deceit, he failed to implement in life, with Hope that they will be more capable of this. "
The main ideas in the works of the thinker.
The main difference between Makiavelli from all the rebirth era preceding him is that he was guided in his writings not by the abstract ideas of the celebration of good and God, but the real experience of a particular life, ideas of good and expediency. "Having intent to write something useful for people of understanding, he wrote in the" sovereign ", - I preferred to follow the truth not imagined, and real - unlike those many who portrayed the republics and states, which in fact no one really knew and did not see ". And further continued: "... the distance between the way people live and how to live, so great that the one who rejects the actual sake of due, acts rather, to harm themselves, rather well, because wanting to confess good All cases of life, he will inevitably die, facing many people who are alien to good. " In this sense, Niccolo Makiavelli manifested himself with a supporter of the most severe realism, for it believed that complacent dreams of a beautiful future only interfere with the lives of an ordinary person. Observations over life led Makiavelli to the deepest conviction that a person is a substantially egoistic being, in all its actions, they are guided by only their own interests. In general, according to Makiavelli, interest is the most powerful and almost the only stimulus of human activity. The manifestations of interest are quite different, but the most important interest is associated with the preservation of property, property and with the acquisition of new property and new property. He argued that "people will rather simulate the death of the Father than the loss of property." In one of the works there is also such a rather sharp passage, emphasizing the inexperienced egoism of human nature: "... the people in general one can say that they are ungrateful and are inconstant, tend to hypocrisy and deceive that they are scared by danger, it is going on." In other words, Makiavelli shows that a person is an infinite combination of good and evil, and evil is equally inherent in human nature as well.
The man, according to Makiavelli, not only selfish, but also free in his actions. If the Christian understanding of the essence of a person argued that a person in everything was subordinated to the Higher Divine Providence, a fate in advance by God, then Makiavelli formulates a completely new understanding of human destiny. He suggests that the fate of a person is not "Fatum" (rock, inevitability), and "Fortune". Fortune Fortune never can completely determine the human life. Moreover, in the "sovereign", the Florentine thinker is trying to even calculate the ratio - as far as the human life depends on the higher circumstances, and how much of him itself. And it comes to the conclusion that "Fortune manages half of our actions, but to manage another half or so it provides us with ourselves." And no wonder, claiming the freedom of the will of a person, Makiavelli calls on people "it is better to be brave than cautious", for "Fortuna is a woman, and who wants to speak with her, should bother her and kick." Being a "person action" himself, Makiavelli comes to the conclusion that the main thing in man is the ability to activities, will, seeking to implement large goals based on selfish interest. This ability to work he called "Valor" ("Visit"). "Visit" is inherent far from all people, why they are stirred in their pathetic life. However, in history there were always some individuals, whose "valor" makes them make outstanding actions and thereby move the whole history of mankind. And Machiavelli calls to take an example from these people who aware of the needs of their time and capable of doing what is needed at the moment.
From this point of view, in the works of Machiavelli, as it were, all previous humanistic arguments about the essence of the human person would receive their realistic completion. Refusing a purely religious and philosophical reasoning on these topics, it soberly and severely formulates certain rules and norms of the human dormitories, which, in his opinion, determine the life of each particular person. A separate person appears in the writings of Machiavelli in all its unaccusted, soberly estimated reality, with the kind of good intentions and evil acts inherent in him. The most brightly, these ideas were expressed by the Florentine thinker in reasoning on the topic of power and the sign of the sovereign. The state itself, in understanding Machiavelli, arose as a result of the same egoistic nature of man. The state is the highest force capable of putting a sufficiently rigid limit to the egoistic aspirations of individuals and thereby save them from self-destruction. People, guided by the interest of self-preservation, and create a state. Speaking about the forms of state, Makiavelli, despite all its republican convictions, it comes to the conclusion that the most appropriate and useful state-owned device is the monarchy. From here there is his idea of \u200b\u200b"new sovereign". "New Sovereign" should be relying not on the theory and philosophical ideas about life, but at the very real life. People can not be only kind and good, they are good, and bad at the same time. Sovereign, if he wants to rule for a long time, is obliged to rely in his board and on good and bad. In other words, in the hands of the sovereign there should be not only a gingerbread, but also a whip. Moreover, as soon as the sovereign releases a whip from his hands, every order is immediately disturbed. Nikcolo Makiavelli, saying that the wise ruler of the state is obliged to "if possible, not to be removed from good, but if necessary, I do not agree and evil," in fact it recognizes - the real government is impossible without violence, without the most sophisticated deeds. No wonder, describing the "new sovereign", he writes that such a ruler must combine the quality of the lion in one person who can plunge any enemy, and foxes capable of fooling the biggest cunning. However, Machiavell has no chanting violence and cruelty. Moreover, from its point of view, cruelty and violence are justified only when they are subject to government interests when the purpose of their application is state order. Cruelty is designed to correct, and not destroy - says the Florentine thinker.
In the treatise "Sovereign" Machiavelli a lot of place devotes to specific recommendations sent to political leaders. By and large, the "Sovereign" is a real textbook of the authorities, a manual in which it really actually describes how to get power, how to exercise power and how to preserve power. Subsequently, in political science, there was even a special term - "magiavellism", which characterizes such an image of the board when any means are used to preserve power. In principle, the content of this modern term has no relation to what Makiavelli himself wrote. After all, for him, power is not an end in itself, but a means of ensuring state order. Power for power, cruelty for cruelty. The philosophical and political teachings of Niccolo Makiavelli caused an ambiguous reaction in the then Europe. His preaching of a free egoistic person, reflections on the rights and possibilities of secular sovereigns served as a reason for a sharp rejection by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1559, his books were made to the "Indict of Prohibited Books".
My opinion.
Studying information about Makiavelli, I met such a term as "Makiavelism."
From the sitemirslovarei.. com.:
McAevelism is an image, a scheme of political behavior, neglecting moralities to achieve political goals. The term is associated with the name of the Italian political figure and writer I. Makiavelli (1469-1527), an adherent of strong state power. A distinctive feature of Machiavelism, its reason is the thesis "The goal justifies funds", when the sake of achieving goals are considered justified and acceptable any means, including treachery, cunning, cruelty, deception of a political opponent.
Stripping from him, it seems that Nicolo is a man with cynical views on the world and a tough attitude towards society. In fact, he clearly and very deeply expressed his thought about the political system without an okras. I want to say about the work "Sovereign". Machiavelli does not at all attribute to the rulers of the Divine Entity, but sees in them quite real people. Moreover, he claims that sometimes for the sake of the country's good the sovereign must be cruel and inhuman.
This is not the most voluminous work, but one of the most useful. It will be interesting not only to people who are fond of philosophy or politics, but also everyone else. Macavelly had a wonderful warehouse of the mind and the expression of his thoughts, he supports interesting historical examples. In the "sizard" Makiavelli argues about what the ruler should be to preserve power and not lose respect for subjects. It would seem that the book is five with more than centuries, but all this time did not forget about her and used for their own purposes various rulers. Methods of political struggle and ways to hold the authorities still remain unchanged. And this book is famous primarily by the fact that the behavior of the sovereign, described by Machiavelli, applies to any public system and any method of government.
The thinker himself did not cause me a certain emotion, and they were extroduced, and cursed - but he did not leave anyone indifferent without exception. Sharing in many ways the idea of \u200b\u200bthe philosophers of the Renaissance, Machiavelli in some sense anticipated thinkers of the Epoch of Enlightenment. He believed in man and that everything in the world was subordinated to reasonable laws. At the same time, in his philosophy, there is also faith in fate, as a fingerprint of the epoch - could not pay the world to the power of man and refuse faith in the supernatural.