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Nicol

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Title: Pico della mirandola Author: Kyoo Lee Last modified by: Kyoo Lee Created Date: 2/9/2005 4:02:32 AM Document presentation format: On-screen Show – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Nicol


1
Nicolò Machiavelli(1469-1527)
  • Political Humanism and the Rise of Young Power

2
Machiavelli, Author of the PrinceWritten c.
1505, published 1515
3
William Mortensens Machiavelli
4
Questions 1
  • Machiavelli and the Political Mobility of the
    Human
  • 1.1 What are the key political points or messages
    of The Prince? Why was and still is this work so
    scandalous?
  • 1.2 What are the similarities and differences
    between Pico and Machiavelli taken together as
    representatives of the Renaissance again, how
    exactly do Machiavelli's ideas on human
    embody the Renaissance Spirit? 
  • 1.3 How does his view on human nature deepen,
    reflect and further complicate the psychological
    dynamics of the Renaissance man? 

5
Questions 2
  • Machiavelli and the Political Manipulation of
    Human Emotions
  • "Cruley and Compassion and Whether it is Better
    to be Loved than Feared, or the Reverse (Chapter
    XVII, p.18)"
  • 2.1 Why does Machiavelli raise such an issue? Why
    is this a political question?
  • 2.2 What is Machiavelli's own answer to the
    question?
  • 2.3 What is his notion of power? (Look for
    some conceptual clues in the chapter. All there.) 

6
Questions 3
  • Machiavelli and Anti-Platonic Realism (or
    Utilitarianism)
  • "Many have dreamed up republics and
    principalities which never never in truth
    been known to exist the gulf between how one
    should live and how one does live is so wide that
    a man who neglects what is actually done for what
    should be done learns the way to self-destruction
    rather than self-preservation. ... Therefore if
    a prince wants to maintain his rule he must
    learn how not to be virtuous, and to make use of
    this ... (Chapter XV, p.16, emphases added).
  • 3.1 Locate (pp. 16-9) phrases, sentences or
    passages that illustrate Machiavelli's political
    utilitarianism and see how different they are
    from Platonic thoughts or ideals why, for
    instance, is Machiavelli so interested in
    "appearance" or "reputation"? 
  • 3.2 Are there political philosophical reasons for
    this thematic preoccupation?  
  • 3.3 Machiavelli finds traditional Roman military
    literature more useful and interesting
    than Ancient Greek philosophy. Why? Locate
    some examples in the text. 

7
Questions 4
  • Machiavelli and the Medici Family of Florence
  • 4.1 Fascinating to see further is some
    biographical or socio-political context in which
    the Prince was produced the rise of
    political clans and military-economic powers as
    illustrated by the Medici Family. Where does the
    Prince, this work itself, stand in this context? 
  • 4.2 Further, how did the Medici contribute to
    the establishment and institutionalisation of the
    Renaissance as a period in the history of Western
    civilisation?  

8
Key Quotes
  • The gulf between how one should live and how one
    does live is so wide (p.16) human nature
    being what it is, princes cannot possess those
    qualities, or rather they cannot always exhibit
    them. So a prince should be so prudent that he
    knows how to escape the evil reputation attached
    to vices (p.17) Some of the things
    that appear to be wicked will bring him security
    and prosperity(p.17) A prince should want
    to have a reputation for compassion rather than
    for cruelty nonetheless, he should be careful
    that he does not make bad use of compassion
    (p.18)
  • So as a prince cannot practice the virtue of
    generosity in such a way that he is noted for it,
    except to his cost (p.17) In the first case,
    your generosity will be to your cost (p.17)
    Any prince who has come to depend entirely on
    promises and has taken no other precautions
    ensures his own ruin friendship which is bought
    is paid for, but it does not last and it yields
    nothing (p.18).
  • So, on this question of being loved or feared, I
    conclude that since some men love as they please
    but fear when the prince pleases, a wise prince
    should rely on what he _______, not on what he
    cannot ________. (p.19)
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