Philosophy in itself is defined as the quest of the truth or the unknown. Political philosophy on the other hand believes that we, as a state can live a good life with a good society by the hands of a great government. Before the rise of modernity, philosophy is not the philosophy that Machiavelli had given us. During the Hellenistic, Roman Empire and Medieval period, all philosophical matters were purely based on humans’ desire and the church. In short, it became theocentric – this can be seen during the medieval times where churches are powerful and takes control of everything.
In the Hellenistic period, it was another take of the classical way of philosophy that Socrates, Plato and Aristotle made. During this time, having a philosophical based text is restricted as to the freedom of expression or thought is constricted to such topics and they must be related to humans, their desire, gods and of course the church. Seeing as the church as a huge impact during these times, in order to have your philosophy to be approved, one must have ‘connections’ or their work must be in the standards of the church where they are praised, mention and ‘advertised’ in a way so that the common people would come to their door step and the power of the church increases.
Then comes the Renaissance period where the start of modernity is. From it being theocentric, it became anthropocentric where the rise of science and capitalism takes shape. Now, there is a freedom of thought and expression and there is a need to be factual and not entirely based or influenced by the church. This is the start of where our modernity comes to play and where Machiavelli is deemed as a father of modern political philosophy. This is the reason why Machiavelli is a modern political thinker.
127 our experts are availableright now
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian political philosopher and a statesman secretary in the Florentine republic. He was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy: to which he was born in the renaissance period and died on June 21, 1527 in Florence. Niccolò Machiavelli’s known or notable works were The Prince and Discourses on Livy. Taking into consideration that Machiavelli was born in the Renaissance period, where the start of modernity happened. Machiavelli was known as the father of modern political philosophy and political science. Niccolò Machiavelli’s thinking was different from the classical philosophers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
In his work, The Prince: Machiavelli tried to introduce stability where a ‘simple’ man like him could be of use to Lorenzo; who was the prince and in power. Unlike any other philosopher, Machiavelli showed that how leaders of different county handle their country their own way. Hence the quote, “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.” Machiavelli believed that in order to stay in power, one must have a heart of a lion and a mind of a fox. A lion is brave and a brave heart is one of the characteristics that a leader needs, a fox can be sly and smart to which a great leader’s mind should be. One good example of the quotation above is the time when our late President: Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr., He was the 10th President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986.
At first, President Ferdinand Marcos was loved by many and he was elected again as president. But as the time passes by, he used the military and fear into his own advantage and for his personal interests. He then declared Martial Law and the rid of habeas corpus to which the military can do whatever they want and this sparked fear in the entire country and thus, he got his power, used his power, and he remained in power until he was thrown off. Marcos had a heart of a lion and a mind of a fox per say. Also, his work is trying to show us on how to get power, how to use it, and how to maintain it. Another quotation from the prince that also fits the quotation above is “Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.” to which late President Ferdinand Marcos did. He both used force and deception to win over the people and continue his hold over the Philippines.
This example is what Machiavelli was pertaining to, a leader who knows what power is, how to get it: to which Marcos got it by being a ‘good’ President, how to use it: Marcos huge amounts of money from the foreign currency loan to help and develop the Philippines to which the citizens during that time did not see as an alarming situation as they are benefiting from the structures that Marcos was building during that time, how to maintain power: Marcos was able to successfully maintain his power for a few years more after he was elected the second time due to the fact that he did the best that he could to help the Philippines ‘prosper’ during his times. With the success of his first term, his second term was a change of phase as he became a dictator type of President who controlled the media.
Discourses on Livy showed us how the Roman Councils handle their leadership. The Senate – elites are the ones who are in charge over the Plebeians – the common people who are mixed classes: upper, middle and lower class. “Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.” – This can be applicable in both parties where the council and senate are driven by their love for power, to be in control, to name a few.
Meanwhile the plebeians are driven by fear: the fear of not being able to be protected. Another thing that this book has as it points out that the nature of man is full of envy, greed, ambition and discontent to which we can see in this day of age. The state that was mentioned here is the government. The government system is flawed and that it does not have a stable foundation as it is being ran by people who are driven by their greed for power and they are running for their own interest only which should not be the case because their selfishness could take a toll on the entire country and this could hinder their development.
An example that I can think of here is President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and how presidency together with his cabinet members is or the people he appointed to at each department affects our living here in the Philippines. President Duterte’s win during 2016 election was driven by the love and admiration that the people gave to him. He promised that he would change the system and other countless of promises he made. But as soon as he became President on June 30, 2016, the war of drugs started which sparked fear and caused an uproar among the citizens of the Philippines as to some were killed because some refuse to give up, others were shot as to it was a ‘domino effect’.
Also, some of the people that Duterte appointed were not fit to the position that they are currently in. Another example I could think of is the recent senatorial election where numerous of government officials were unfit for the position in the senate due to the fact that some of them were not highly educated, some of them committed crimes, some were involved in a scandal, etc. Also, some of those government officials were practicing the illegal way of getting the vote of the people: vote buying. Vote buying is their way to get the votes of the people the easy way wherein they target the financially challenged, minority groups; in short, those people who are in tight situations where in they seek out this event to get the help that they need.
Modernity as defied by Britannica is the “self-definition of a generation about its own technological innovation, governance, and socioeconomics.” In other words, modernity is aligned with the individual subjectivity, scientific explanation and the rationalization where they could see the difference of governance and the difference of a church influenced government. Another definition of modernity is the burst of freedom for thought and culture (Leithart, 2005). In the time of Machiavelli: the renaissance period; religion is no longer fully integrated into any sort of life events as it could stand alone. In short, modernity is a counter part of renaissance because it brought back the freedom of thought, expression and culture unlike before. This also means that during this period, the traditional way of seeing this also has changed as it was the start of modernization.
Old texts were challenged and was use for references as they come up with new ideas or ways to be able to cope up with the rise of science, technology, to name a few. There was a development in terms of languages, society, thought, technology and a lot more to which we can see the rise of modernity at this age. Of course, with the rise of science comes the rise of researches, technological advancements, new discoveries that changed how one perceives the world, to name a few. One example of the rise of modernity is the creation of the printing press that made a huge impact in their society as it made for a mass production of paper, books, pamphlets, newspapers, etc.
Unlike before, books and pamphlets were hand written and it would take a lot of people with a legible penmanship to finish huge orders which could take months to finish. This is a prime example of modernity during the renaissance period. This idea of a printing press came by and has been upgraded and manufactured by a lot of countries to which we can see today as of this century. With the example above: newspapers are also an example of a technological advancement during the renaissance era. Newspapers are an essential especially during these days because in their time, this is the only thing that could give certain updates and information on what is happening around them. It can be in a wide range of topics such as: political, entertainment purposes, searching for a criminal, etc. There is much more technological advancement in this period of time but from what I can see, these two examples are what I can connect to the study of political science.
So how can Niccolò Machiavelli become one of the modern philosophers that we, political science students look into? From what I can see, Machiavelli had been born at the age of where modernity is starting. Of course, as he was growing up; his ideologies were being influenced by what he was surrounded with and what he can see basing from his perspective. Naturally, he is already a modern thinker in that aspect only. But as his background shows; Machiavelli is also a statesman secretary in Florentine Republic which today, is known as Republic of Florence. With him having a political background with enough experience as a secretary, he knows the loops, tasks and characteristics of his fellow colleagues and to what extent they do in order for them to be in the position that they are in.
So there is no doubt that what Machiavelli wrote is in the modern state of time. He was able to find out what it means to be an ‘effective’ leader and a leader who can take risks without thinking twice. He also has challenged a few of the classical philosophers or the philosophers in the past regarding their ideology or belief: a prime example of that is Machiavelli challenging Aristotle’s work. Machiavelli was able to turn Aristotle’s virtues into a complete 180 when his famous work – The Prince was made. Machiavelli was able to let the world know what it takes or what should be done when one is in power to which not all political philosophers can do. Another example that I could think of that is his work The Prince.
How he suggested to Lorenzo that he – Machiavelli could be of service to him as he can be his eyes and ears in the outside world. He also stated that Lorenzo needed him because he was a ‘lowlife’ of a human and that he needed him in order to retain is power to which Lorenzo; the Prince declined. Then after he was declined, Machiavelli proceeded to make a book out of it and criticized what the Prince did was wrong and told us, his readers on what a leader should be, how everything should be handled, and how a government should function in his other book – Discourses on Livy.
To close this paper off, from what I can see on his works and from the time that he was born into and with a few research here and there, I can say that Machiavelli is indeed a modern political philosopher because he was able to open up a new type of perspective with his works as this served as a guide to everyone who is able to read his works. It also gave people, particularly the government new information on what they should do in order to be in power, how to maximize their power, how to use or take advantage of it during their reign, so on and so forth. With that said, new realizations were made from this paper as the quotation above is now stuck with me as I finish this paper off.
References
- Augustyn, A., Bauer, P., Duignan, B., Eldridge, A., Gregersen, E., McKenna, A., . . . Zelazko, A. (2020, February 7). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from britannica: https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance
- History. (2019, October 10). Retrieved from history: https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/printing-press
- Leithart, P. (2005, May 20). Patheos. Retrieved from patheos: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/leithart/2005/05/renaissance-and-modernity-2/
- Machiavelli, N. (n.d.). Goodreads. Retrieved from goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/16201.Niccol_Machiavelli?page=1
- Mansfeild, H. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niccolo-Machiavelli
- Mouzakitis, A. (2017, March 20). Frontiers in Sociology. Retrieved from frontiersin: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2017.00003/full
- Snyder, S. L. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/modernity
- Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli
- Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_technology
