Changes

'''Niccolò Machiavelli''' (May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527), was the leading political theorist of the [[Renaissance]] and one of the best nonfiction writers in all of Italian literature. A politician and writer based in [[Florence]], he is best known for his book ''[[The Prince]]'', which showed how a self-serving an aspiring ruler will follow the policy that the "end justifies the means," whereby a ruler can gain power (the "means") in any deceitful or unjust manner possible in order to achieve his often undisclosed goals (the "end"). During his time and long afterward, Machiavelli was considered to have been inspired by the devil, and his name has been used for centuries to describe the use or approval of unscrupulous, self-serving political action. ''The Prince'' made '''"Machiavellian"''' a byword for deceit, despotism and political manipulation, as in a politician who spends all his time and effort on obtaining and retaining power for himself.

Was Machiavelli a Machiavellian? The question much debated by scholars is whether Machiavelli intended ''The Prince'' to be an actual guide book in how to be a ruthless tyrant, or—as most scholars argue—wrote it as a warning to citizens. <!--While the book was written in the form of a guide for princes, there was no actual prince involved, unlike guide books written by others. For that matter, no tyrant has ever needed the book to get ideas how to oppress people. On the other hand, good --> Good citizens do need a guide to evil so that they can recognize it and fight back to keep their institutions, distrust politicians, and keep watch for corruption. Machiavelli, most scholars believe, was dedicated to republicanism as the best form of government and opposed tyranny. ''The Prince'' was a warning that it could happen like this if citizens let down their guard.

Italy was a scene of intense political conflict involving four dominant city-states (Florence, Milan, Venice, and Naples), along with the [[Papacy, history|Papacy]], [[France, history|France]], Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire.

Machiavelli uses "virtù" to refer to the range of personal qualities, such as ruthlessness in dealing with friends or adversaries, and the flexibility to rapidly respond to changing circumstances regardless of past promises, that the prince will need to keep remain in power and achieve great resultsbe successful. However, this "virtù" has nothing in common with refers to personal skills and qualities, not necessarily universal moral virtue. Machiavelli uses "fortune" to refer to things outside one's control. "Fortune is responsible for half of what happens to us, leaving the half to ourselves" (our own virtue or merit). Fortune provides the matter or opportunity for our own merit or virtue to be acted upon.

The [[atheist]] German-born American neoconservative [[Leo Strauss]], and founder of the American neo-conservative, [[Straussian School]] denounces him Machiavelli as a "teacher of evil," because he counsels the princes to avoid the values of justice, mercy, temperance, wisdom, and love of their people in preference to the use of cruelty, violence, fear, and deception.<ref>Leo Strauss, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0226777022/ref=sib_dp_srch_bod?v=search-inside&keywords=teacher+of+evil&go.x=16&go.y=8 ''Thoughts on Machiavelli'' (1957), p 9 online]</ref> Italian anti-fascist philosopher Benedetto Croce (1925) concludes Machiavelli is simply a "realist" or "pragmatist" who accurately states that moral values in reality do not greatly affect the decisions that political leaders make.<ref>Benedetto Croce, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1406739774/ref=sib_books_pg?ie=UTF8&keywords=Benedetto%20Croce%20machiavelli&p=S02H&checkSum=%252FombMxeAC6hIVUToYvbv9hivFP6U3vxoUdbCmtPQco4%253D ''My Philosophy'' (1949), p. 142 online]</ref> German philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1946) held that Machiavelli simply adopts the stance of a political scientist—-a Galileo of politics—in distinguishing between the "facts" of political life and the "values" of moral judgment.<ref>Ernst Cassirer, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0300000367/ref=sib_dp_srch_bod?v=search-inside&keywords=machiavelli+galileo ''The Myth of the State,'' (1946) p.136, online]</ref>

In [[political science]] the term ''"Machiavellian"'' connotes cunning and deceit, ''[[the The Prince]]'' (1532) - best known work of Niccolò Machiavelli - is seen by many as the foundation of modern political science for four reasons:

Today it is often spoken in tone of admiration but Machiavelli's Florentine contemporaries were shocked by his views,<ref name="Guinness"/> some in fact to such degree that they regarded his works to be inspired by [[devil]].<ref name="BriefIdeas">{{cite book |author=William Raeper, Linda Edwards|title=Brief guide to ideas|publisher=Lion Hudson |year=1997 |pages=175–181|isbn=9780310227748|url=http://books.google.sk/books?id=EMidlIvMw0cC&dq=editions:PaSJTIVMIEsC&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8UypUKe4F4bysgbAvoDoCw&redir_esc=y}}</ref> We don't know if Machiavelli wrote ''the Prince'' as a satire on the way the princes of his day behaved or as serious advice. We do know that more than a few leaders have taken his advice seriously.<!--Fcf{{#tag:ref|Florentine Catherine de' Medici, Queen consort of French king Henry II and regent for Charles IX, has traditionally been blamed by historians to be the one of the first who adopted Machiavellian principles in what was later coined as the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day (Aug. 2425, 1572).|group=note}} Whatever his objectives were, Machiavelli made his position clear: leaders are essentially selfish, self-interested, and self-protected; they view other people simply as objects to be [[Psychological manipulation|manipulated]]. That's why from their perspective, ''virtuous character'' is not just irrelevant but also even obstructive and foolish. This is in sharp contrast to [[Plato]] who wrote in his ''Republic'' that characters of leaders{{#tag:ref|cf.-->''"we compel them to have some care and responsibility for others"'' from Plato:''The Parable of the Cave''|group=note}} are extremely important for public welfare: ''"the States are as the men are; they grow out of human characters".''<ref name="Guinness">{{cite book|first=Os |last=Guinness|editor= Virginia Mooney Withrow|title=When no one sees: Character and leadership in an age of Image|publisher=[http://www.ttf.org/ TheTrinityForum.org]|location=McLean, Virginia|year=2007|pages=59–65,305|isbn= 1-57683-159-0}}</ref> The contemporary society of Machiavelli's period based its morale on conviction that evil acts in temporal life will cause punishment in [[eternal life]]. He turned this perception upside down and refrained from mentioning [[Bible]] or [[Christianity]] in his writings. His ostentatious avoidance of addressing the question of the [[Last Judgement]] in this respect excited resentment.<ref name="BriefIdeas"/>{{#tag:ref|cf."Marx called religion 'the opium of the people'. However, the Nobel Prize winner Czeslav Milosz argued: 'A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death - the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.'"<ref>{{cite web |title=What is life about? |publisher=EVS and JPK |url=http://www.ilife101.com/ |accessdate=2012-11-18}}</ref>|group=note}}

== "Machiavellism and " in the field of psychology ==

Generally speaking, the term "Machiavellian" is used by people who are unfamiliar with the works of Machiavelli, or do not understand them. Machiavellianism in the field of [[Machiavellianism (Psychology)|Machiavellianismpsychology]] has a different connotation than as in the field of [[psychologypolitical science]] . It is defined as a manipulative strategy of social interaction and personality style that uses other people as tools to achieve for personal gain.<ref name="Braiker">{{cite book

}}</ref> This alleges that a prince or ruler of a society always, and only, acts out of selfselfish-motives, and not for the benefit of the whole of society, or the rulers of a republic on behalf of its citizens. According Machiavelli's political recommendations to PsychCentral.com:{{Cquote|“A Machiavellian personality is manipulative and strategic,” says Aimee Daramus, a clinical psychologist in Chicago. “When they have a goal, they think through how to achieve it very skillfully, but without any consideration for the feelings of other people involved.” They might also use manipulative behaviors prince aspiring to get what they want, as well as deception or exploitation. They often come off as unemotional. Machiavellianism tends to be more commonTrusted Source in men, but it can affectTrusted Source anyone and at any age. “When interacting with them, you might find their behavior charming and engaging, and yet you never really feel ‘close’ to them,” says clinical psychologist Dr. Bethany Cook. “They lack empathy.” Unlike a [[Narcissistic personality disorder|narcissist]], they will seek to gain their goals without becoming the center of attention. “They tend to enjoy being the person pulling the strings, rather than the puppet on the stage,” Cook says.<ref>[https://psychcentral.com/lib/machiavellianism-cognition-and-emotion-understanding-power is merely how-the-machiavellian-thinks-feels-and-thrives All About Machiavellianism], PsychCentral.com</ref>}} === LGBT movement and Machiavellianism in psychology=== The [[LGBT]] movement has the Machiavellian character.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottlively.net/2015/02/25/russia-vs-the-lgbt-globalists-a-climate-of-hate-and-fear-part-two/ |author=Scott Lively |title=Russia vs. The LGBT Globalists: A Climate of Hate and Fear, Part Two. |publisher=Scott Lively Ministries |accessdate=12 Jun 2016 |quote=To those who don’t fully recognize the Machiavellian character of the LGBT movement, or the extent to which the American media (even to an increasing extent FOX News) has become a sort-of “Gay Pravda,” }}</ref> == Quotes == *"the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, survive and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit from the new order,be successful " Niccolo Machiavelli, ''The Prince and The Discourses'' 21 (Luigi Ricci trans., McGraw Hill Educ. 1st ed. 1950) (1532) (as quoted by ''Hall v. McRaven'', 508 S.W.3d 232, 247 (Tex. 2017) (Willett, J., concurring). *"There never was a new prince among so many who has disarmed his subjects; rather when he has found them disarmed he has always armed them, because, by arming them, those arms become yours, those men who were distrusted become faithful, and those who were faithful are kept so, and your subjects become your adherents. And whereas all subjects cannot be armed, yet when those whom you do arm are benefited, the others can be handled more freely, and this difference in their treatment, which they quite understand, makes the former your dependents, and the latter, considering it to be necessary that those who have the most danger and service should have the most reward, excuse you. But when you disarm them, you at once offend them by showing that you distrust them, either for cowardice or for want of loyalty, and either of these opinions breeds hatred against youbad." Chapter 20, section 2.