A Socio-Historical Analysis of Machiavelli’s Political Thought in The Prince and The Discourses

الملخص

This theoretical socio-historical study tries to elaborate and analyze the place of power in the state in Machiavelli’s political thought. It will explore Machiavelli’s thought through his major works: The Prince, and The Discourses. In doing so, the study will try to answer numbers of major questions in this concern. The study illustrates the historical situation in Italy from the late fifteenth century to the mid-sixteenth century. The study will offer a detailed discussion of the concepts of Virtù and Fortuna which are central to Machiavelli’s theory of government. By bringing all these together, the study tries to demonstrate that Machiavelli was not amoral and that the maxim that the ‘end justifies the means’ attributed to him is inaccurate. Machiavelli has, indeed, become a synonym for ‘cunning, crafty, guileful, and deceitful’. This study also examines the place of Machiavelli’s Prince in the history of ethics and the history of leadership philosophy. The study argues that Machiavelli was not a ‘Machiavellian’, because he advances an ethical system for leadership that involves uprooting corruption and establishing rule of law. Machiavelli’s main arguments were stated in his two famous works, namely, ‘The Prince’ and ‘The Discourses’. Both can be seen as prescriptions for the maintenance of political stability in two different regimes: ‘Principalities in The Prince, and ‘Republics’ in The Discourses. However, it is not easy to understand either of the above without acute knowledge of the Italian state of affairs during Machiavelli’s time.