Machiavelli’s Consequentialism in The Prince: Reasonable or Improper?

<p>Jingtian Wu<sup>1</sup></p>

doi:10.25236/FAR.2021.030804

Frontiers in Art Research, 2021, 3(8); doi: 10.25236/FAR.2021.030804.

Machiavelli’s Consequentialism in The Prince: Reasonable or Improper?

Author(s)

Jingtian Wu¹

Corresponding Author:

Jingtian Wu

Affiliation(s)

¹Changjun High School International Department, Changsha, China

Download PDF
|
Download: 32
|
View: 1402

Abstract

This paper discusses Machiavelli’s point of view on leaders should behave immorally to achieve success as a consequentialist in the Prince, and three statements that argue against him have been pointed out. The first part of the paper is an introduction to Machiavelli concerning his background information and his consequential opinions of leaders in the Prince. The second part is the disagreement on Machiavelli’s view through the perspectives of morality, long-term effects, and feasibility.

Keywords

Machiavelli; Consequentialism, Morality, Success

Cite This Paper

Jingtian Wu. Machiavelli’s Consequentialism in The Prince: Reasonable or Improper?. Frontiers in Art Research (2021) Vol. 3, Issue 8: 18-21. https://doi.org/10.25236/FAR.2021.030804.

References

[1] BBC. Consequentialism. 2014. Publisher: bbc.com. Retreived from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/consequentialism_1.shtml.

[2] Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1907). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

[3] Kocael, Ilker. Machiavelli: evil or angel? 2015. Publisher: researchgate.net. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271910197_Machiavelli_evil_or_angel.

[4] Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Translated by Tim Parks. Penguin Classics, 2014.

[5] Mansfield, Harvey. "Niccolò Machiavelli." Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Jun. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niccolo-Machiavelli. Accessed 25 August 2021.

[6] Strauss, Leo. Thoughts on Machiavelli. Seattle, Wash.: U of Washington, 1958.

[7] Tharoor, Ishaan. 7 wicked popes, and the terrible things they did. 2015. Publisher: washingtonpost.com Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/24/7-wicked-popes-and-the-terrible-thi ngs-they-did/.