“Politics is neither a thing based on ethics, nor a part of it”

Machiavelli has stated “it is necessary for a prince to have the people friendly; otherwise he has no security in adversity” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 45). According to him, it is a requirement not to reveal the real intentions of the prince to the citizens. He should appear as a virtuous person while doing its opposition. He should pretend as a ruler who wants the betterment of the people in the kingdom. Thus, it is stated in The Prince that a prince should “be a constant inquirer, and afterwards a patient listener concerning the things of which he inquired” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 110). However, the prince should hide his real objectives on spreading power over the men and pretend to be a virtuous person. But he should not be a virtuous person in real. 

Furthermore, Machiavelli has explained about the characteristics of human beings from a naked eye. According to him, human being are naturally acquisitive and appetitive. Thus, they crave for the things that they do not have as they like novelty. Human beings like property more than honor. Naturally, humans are ungrateful. They are controllable by using fear in a way a parent prevent a child from doing something. Thus, human beings like to do what others do and they are imitative. Therefore, the prince should be powerful in order to govern such creatures. The prince should know the characteristics of human beings before governing them. 

Machiavelli has firmly stated that any ruler should not be moral as it would not be helpful for gaining power. For that, ‘a prince should guard himself, above all things, against being despised and hated; and liberality leads you both’ (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 74). The ruler should be a masterminded to govern the kingdom with craft and cruelty. Machiavelli wanted the prince to be only in the political field and he wanted the ruler to avoid moral judgments from the nature and scope of political judgments. 

Furthermore, the fundamental idea of Machiavelli’s philosophy is the ideas on ‘virtue’. Machiavelli referred it as ‘one’s own arms’. To illustrate, it is what is not based on something else and it represents what is one’s own. He has stated that even ideal things are real. Nevertheless, real itself is ideal. According to him, virtue is something that human beings produce. Therefore, there is nothing above or below to the humans. It means that there is nothing, which is transcendental. 

Moreover, a prince should not concern about the moral values like good, bad etc. Machiavelli has stated that ‘becoming a prince from a private station presupposes either ability or fortune’ and ‘he who has relied least on fortune is established to strongest’ (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 23). As it has mentioned by him, a prince have to think the way he should govern the kingdom which he has taken to his control by his fortune or by the support of others. That ruling process should rely only on the power regardless of moral judgments because being moral does not make any help to gain power and it would not spread the power of the prince. 

According to Machiavelli, covetousness is a quality that is required to have with the prince.  In other words, trustworthiness should not use by the rulers because being trustworthy would not be helpful to gain power. Machiavelli has stated that as, 

“A prince, therefore, being compelled knowingly to adopt the beast, ought to choose the fox and the lion; because the lion cannot defend himself against wolves” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 79-80).

As such, the ruler should have to be a fox in one time and a lion in another time. The quality of being cunning in order to identify the snares and of being strong enough to defend against wolves is an essential requirement when entering into political field. Therefore, he has stated it, as “it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 79-80).

In addition, Machiavelli has stated in The prince that it is not essential to have good qualities within the prince. From that, it is clear that Machiavelli did not consider morality as much important as politics. He has claimed that, “it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities, but it is very necessary to appear to have them” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 80). Acting as if the ruler seems to have all the good qualities is a useful thing. According to Machiavelli, only an imaginative prince would have good qualities. It is stated in The Prince that, 

“to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and know how to change to the opposite” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 81).

As such, Machiavelli has emphasized that majority of this world are immoral and bad in their character, therefore, it would be useless to be a good character when the majority opposes with that. According to him, it is possible for a prince to be a powerful ruler by knowing only the way in which he should not be moral. However, it is required to a prince to be flexible to act according to the situation. He should be intelligent enough to act according to the situation. Then he will know the way to act sometimes as a moral person instead of showing his real attitudes to the public. 

Moreover, as it has mentioned by Machiavelli, “a prince who has a strong city, and had not made himself odious, will not be attacked” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 49). As such, when the prince appears as a virtuous person, then the citizens will not go against the orders of the prince. For that, the ruler should be cunning and wise in the sense that he should have to pretend to be good. Even the other rulers would be fear to attack to a kingdom when there is such a prince who has the support of the citizens.

Thus, Machiavelli has stated that, the first thing that should have to do by the prince after subjugating another kingdom is to ensure and secure his power in that particular kingdom as the urge of a prince is gaining more power. To illustrate, it is not correct to sympathize to the people who are belong to the subjugated kingdom. It is stated that, “every prince ought to desire, to be considered clement and not cruel. Nevertheless, he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 75). Either the prince should confound the people who live in the attacked kingdom before settle his citizens in that particular kingdom or the affected people should massacre them before taking further actions. Therefore, it can be stated that Machiavelli even accepted death of the people who go against the rule of the prince as he states about the importance of eliminating opposed ideas for the ruling system. 

Furthermore, the prince should be able to take good comments and turn the bad comments to others in order to get rid of being hated by others. This also emphasizes that Machiavelli has accepted the violation of moral values in order to gain political power. He has stated that when people has not told him the truth “he should let his anger be felt” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 110). According to Machiavelli, it is permissible to be immoral when dealing with other people. Thus, the prince ought to hold another set of people to tell him only the truth. However, “he ought to question them upon everything, and listen to their opinions, and afterwards from his own conclusions” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 109). 

Moreover, the prince should be only trust himself than others. Machiavelli has emphasized about being cruel. Cruelty is an immoral thing, which rejects by the moralists. However, Machiavelli has emphasized that in order to prove again that there is no connection between moral judgments and political judgments. Furthermore, Machiavelli has stated to get away from the women in the kingdom. As it has mentioned by him, “to be a violator of the property and women of his subjects, from both of which he must abstain” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 83). However, it is also based on gaining and retaining power although it seems to have emphasized moral values. 

In addition, Machiavelli has mentioned to control even the people who supported him. When people respect him and be obedient to him should have to keep closer than the people who do not respect and be obedient to him. It has mentioned that, “it will not be difficult for a wise prince to keep the minds of the citizens steadfast from first to last” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 50).  If the prince has discovered that the citizens have going to make a movement against him or if issues occur when attacking to another kingdom, then according to Machiavelli, “a courageous prince will overcome all such difficulties by giving one time hope to his subjects that the evil will not be for long” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 49). 

Thus, a prince should protect the other kingdoms, which are weak, and attack the other kingdoms, which are, seems to be powerful in the future. However, the prince should protect other weak and not powerful kingdoms should be protected in order not to secure their existence but to attach those kingdoms to his kingdom when the time comes. It is permissible to do any immoral activity in order to reduce the power of the kingdoms of other princes. Therefore, it is possible to identify that Machiavelli has accepted even doing the immoral deeds for the sake of gaining more power. 

However, he does not claim that killing people, betraying the familiar people, detaching from religions etc as the skills that people should possess. However, this does not mean that he appreciated moral deeds in the field of politics. He has also claimed that no one can gain power by following a moral path. The prince is able to gain only the glory by following moral values in politics.

Aristotle has once stated that the desire to gain power is a natural thing. Along with Aristotle, Machiavelli has stated that, gaining power, retaining power and spreading power is a natural thing and is a natural desire of human being. For Machiavelli, when another state is being attacked, that particular state should be destroyed. However, it is no appropriate to the moral standards as when destroying a state the citizens of that particular state would be destroyed too. It is not a moral deed to perform. This also reveals how Machiavelli separated moral judgments from the field of politics. 

In addition, Machiavelli has claimed that, there are two ways for a person to become a prince. To illustrate, “the fact of becoming a prince from a private station presupposes either ability or fortune” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 23). As it has mentioned by Machiavelli, an ordinary person can become a prince by following a cruel way. 

Moreover, when a prince has done something wrong he should not accept that, as acceptance of that wrong deed would create distrust of the prince among the citizens. The prince can give the responsibility of that misdeed to a person who is either a loyal or a deceptive one. He has claimed that the prince should act as a wise archer who has an idea about the strength of his bow and aimed to a particular place, which is in a distance. As such the prince has to have an understanding about his potentials. Thus, the prince should be aware of the things he says. He has mentioned that, “a prince ought to take care that he never lets anything slip from his lips” (Machiavelli, 1992, p. 81) that are useless for the process of gaining power. 

Machiavelli does not think that there are no morals in the world. What he says was that there could not be moral judgments in the field of politics, as a prince cannot gain power in a moral way. He detached morality, religion, ethical values, and spiritual things from the scope of politics. As it has mentioned above in this study, a prince should once be a fox by taking the characteristics of a fox and in another time, he should be a lion by taking into consideration about the characteristics of a lion. Morality cannot gain power. Therefore, the prince should have to be immoral for the sake of gaining power, retaining power and spreading power. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be stated that, Machiavelli’s The Prince has emphasized the practical aspect of politics. When it comes to the contemporary politics in the world, the way that Machiavelli has guided a prince can be seen in the characters of the politicians. Sometimes we can see that they are using the principles of Machiavelli in practical sense. Finally, it can be stated that according to Machiavelli, “Politics is neither a thing based on ethics, nor a part of it” as he separated the morality from the field of politics. 

Works Cited

Allen, J. W. (1928). A History of Political Thoughts in the Sixteenth Century. London.

Ebenstein, W. (1951). Great Political Thinkers. New York.

Machiavelli, N. (1992). The Prince. (W. K. Marriott, Trans.) London: David Campbell Publishers Ltd.

Sabine, G. H. (1920). A History of Political Thought. New York.

Craig, E. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Vol. VIII). London: Routlege Publications .