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Machiavelli and His Anti-Humanist Approach, Essay Example
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Although Niccolo Machiavelli lived during the heyday of humanism, he was anything but a humanist. Machiavelli did look back to the examples of the antiquities, but he did not find in them the values that his contemporaries held so dear. Instead, he rejected the traditional values of the humanists and placed the values of courage and pragmatism above all else. This paper will first detail the values of the humanists and will then explain the ways in which Machiavelli departs from these values in his most famous work, The Prince.
Machiavelli’s most famous work, The Prince was addressed to humanist ruler Lorenzo the Magnificent, of the Medici family. Indeed, he appeals to Lorenzo’s “humanity” in his introduction. (Bondadella and Musa 260) The Medici’s surrounded themselves with humanism in the arts, in music and in architecture. The humanists aimed to combine the values of Christianity with the philosophy of the antiquities. They loved the political ideas of philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle and particularly loved the values of beauty, truth and goodness. The humanists believed that men could attain perfection if they meditated on these things. In order to do so, they clung to great art and literature which they believed reflected the good, the true and the beautiful in life. They believed that buildings ought to stand for something and that great families should have homes that reflected their status. Appearance was particularly important to the humanists during the rule of the Medicis. This was particularly apparent in the artwork of Botticelli’s whose Venus was meant to represent the “highest moral qualities” of humanity. Her different features reflected the following: love, charity, dignity, magnanimity, liberality, magnificence, comeliness, modesty, temperance and honesty’’ (Sayre 565).
The humanists also valued the dignity of man to a great degree. They believed that man sat between God and the Angels and that because man had free will, he did not have to remain in the middle. Instead, he could make of himself whatever he wanted. They believed that man was “God’s greatest miracle.” But they also believed that men should choose to live lives of virtue and knowledge. Family relationships and relationships with friends and allies were also valued highly by the humanists. One father of the Medici family wrote to his sons that they should try to avoid making enemies and they ought to strive to be on good terms with their friends, allies and citizens. He advised his sons to give such people gifts and help when possible. Indeed, he said they should help with blood, sweat and even their lives if it helped maintain family honor. He told his sons to try to be loved, to be generous and to confide in their friends (Sayre 562).
Machiavelli agreed with a very small number of humanistic ideas. Like the humanists, he believed that men had enormous potential and free-will. He also believed that men could learn valuable lessons from the Greeks and Romans. But it was not Platonian philosophy or morality that interested Machiavelli. Nor was it the sculptures of antiquity that he admired. Instead, it was the willingness of Roman generals and emperors to act boldly and even ruthlessly in order to defend themselves and their empires (Sayre 562).
Machiavelli urged the prince to break with tradition and to pursue a course of self-interest, rather than listening to the desires of those around him or concerning himself with traditional values. According to Machiavelli, a leader’s first duty is to preserve his country. His personal morality, therefore, said Machiavelli, did not matter. Therefore, brutal rulers like Cesare and Lucretia Borgia were to be admired, even though they were morally bankrupt, because they were strong, practical leaders. Machiavelli rejects the values that the humanists held most dear (Sayre).
Whereas the humanists spent a great deal of time trying to make things appear noble and magnificent. This was evident in the artwork of Botticelli and of the sculptors of the time. Indeed, Machiavelli notes this himself when he writes to Lorenzo Medici that, “We often see princes given horses, arms, vestments of gold cloth, precious stones and similar ornaments suited to their greatness.” But Machiavelli does not find these things valuable. Therefore, instead of giving Medici something ornamental, he gives him something that he finds more valuable. That is, “the knowledge of the deeds of great men.” (Bondadella and Musa 266)
The men Machiavelli speaks of are all strong, brutal men. Since, according to Machiavelli, the only art a prince should concern himself – indeed, even the only thing – was the art of war. Furthermore, the humanists believed that keeping their families honor intact was worth fighting and dying for, Machiavelli believed that some things that appeared to be vices were good, because they kept the prince safe and some things that appeared to be virtues were actually vices, as they lead to the ruin of the prince and the instability of the state (Sayre 570).
While the humanists loved combining classical paganism with Christianity, Machiavelli frowned on the weakness of Christianity, as he found Christians to be “passive, submissive and ineffectual.” The only way a prince could truly be virtuous in Machiavelli’s eyes, was to have courage. He praised even the appaling acts of the Romans, praising, for instance, Romulus’s choice to kill his brother Remus, because, said Machiavelli, even the most horrific means brought about the most desirable ends. Machiavelli believed that sometimes the only way to bring about order was for a leader to be strong and ruthless. A prince he said “must be willing to sacrifice moral right for practical gain. (Sayre 567)” On the other hand, Machiavelli does specify that cruelty can be used well or used badly. Those who are cruel for a purpose and who carry out their purpose can make themselves right with God, he says. Those who are continually and abusively cruel, however, cannot, he says, “possibly survive.” (Bondadella and Musa 272).
While humanist values might have made a prince more likely to care about preserving the philosophies, architecture laws or values of a city, Machiavelli urged the prince to instead devastate any lands he conquered. This would be more likely to make him a feared leader. While the elder Medicis had urged their sons to try to win the love of their friends, citizens and allies, Machiavelli saw such a course as ruinous. It was, he said; better to be feared than loved (Sayre 567). This, said Machiavelli, was because people are fickle. It is very easy for someone to fall out of love with someone he believes he loves. Fear is not so easily forgotten.
While the humanists greatly valued friendships, Machiavelli saw them as political tools. He praised Hiero of Syracuse for putting aside old friendships to pursue new alliances (Bondadella and Musa). Machiavelli praises Hiero’s pragmatism, saying that Hiero made it so that his new friends and allies would have to depend on him and by forging such new alliances he could build any sort of empire he wished with them (Bondadella and Musa 260). This is not the sort of platonic love the humanists valued so highly, but it fits in well with Machiavelli’s view of war as an art.
While the humanists valued honor, Machiavelli praised cunning deception instead. While the humanists would have found Cesare Borgia’s method of buttering up his political opposition and giving them gifts in order to win over their trust so they could kill him despicable, Machiavelli praises Borgia’s ingenuity and skill (Bondadella and Musa). Because Machiavelli believed that The Prince should only be concerned with the Art of War, he had little use for the discussion of laws or virtue. In Machiavelli’s eyes, The Prince’s job was to be fearsome and violent, not only during wartime, but also in peace. He urged a fearsome rule. In place of the generosity urged by the Medici humanists, he instructed the Prince to be frugal. But he cautioned the prince about becoming despised. Fear, he said was good, but to be loathed without securing the fear of one’s subjects could be just as bad for a prince as losing the love of his subjects (Machiavelli).
Machiavelli did not believe in love, nor beauty, nor goodness. He did not believe in charity, nor in truth, nor in honor. Yet, he did believe in the morality of courage, pragmatism and unrestrained strength. Therefore, while Machiavelli did have an unorthodox view of morality, he was anything but a humanist.
Works Cited
Bondadella, Julia C and M Musa, he Italian Renaissance Reader. London: Plume, 1987.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince (Special Student Edition). New York: SoHo Books, 2010.
Sayre, Henry. The Humanities: Culture, Continuity and Change. New York: Prentice Hall, 2010.
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