Niccolo Machiavelli and Moral Indifference Flashcards
In his most famous work “The Prince” Machiavelli…?
eliminated theological and moral argument and took the secular state for granted and inquired scientifically into its behavior
Why did Machiavelli’s name become synonymous with the devil?
largely because of his argument that evil means were sometime necessary to achieve desired ends [on occasion]
Machiavelli had little interest in…?
spiritual matters, and none in theological ones
Why was religion necessary/helpful?
it was helpful in keeping order, controlling people and strengthening the will of soldiers
For Machiavelli, the world of politics is?
real and needs no philosophical or theological explanation
Machiavelli views pagan virtues as?
more relevant alternatives to Christian ones
Ideals based on impossibilities, on imaginings and speculation need to be replaced with?
possible ideals based on effectual truth tested by experience
Adaptability to circumstance is more important than?
adherence to a single, simple ideal
What did Machiavelli say was the purpose of politics?
to preserve and increase political power itself. the standard by which he judges it is its success in doing this
He believed that government depends largely on?
force and craft
He writes almost wholly on?
the mechanics of government
- the mans by which states may be made strong
- policies by which they can expand their power
- the errors that lead to their decay or overthrow
He divorces political and military measures almost wholly from?
religious, moral and social considerations, except where the latter affect political expedients
How does Machiavelli treat those policies that are cruel, faithless or lawless?
with indifference, though he is well aware that such qualities may react upon its political success
“He is not so much immoral as non-moral” what is meant by this?
he simply abstracts politics from other considerations and writes of it as if it were an end in itself
While Machiavelli sanctioned the use of immoral means by a ruler to gain an end, he never doubted…?
that moral corruption in a people makes good government impossible
He was interested in a single end and indifferent to all others. What was this end?
Political power
Neither is power nor in possessions is there any normal limit to?
human desires.
The natural scarcity of Power and possessions cause men to?
always be in a condition of strife and competition which threatens open anarchy unless restrained
The power of the ruler is built upon?
the very imminence of anarchy
Security is possibly only when?
government is strong
Men are generally bad, and so the wise ruler…?
constructs his policies on this assumption
He writes about nothing and thinks about nothing except…?
politics, statecraft and the art of war
What was his interest in social, economic or religious questions?
he had none in them except as they bore on politics
Machiavelli saw the state as an…?
organized force, supreme in its own territory and pursuing conscious policy of aggrandizement in its relations\s with other states
