Machiavellis the Prince: By Any Means Necessary :: essays research papers

Machiavellis "The Prince" By Any representation Necessary     Part 15 of Machiavellis The Prince, entitled Of the Things for WhichMen, and Especially Princes, Are Praised or Blamed, states that, in order for aman to confirm control of a government and better that territory, he mustengage in legitimate actions that may be deemed immoral by the public he serves.Machiavelli argues a valid point, that the nature of man is twofold,encompassing good and evil, right and wrong. The force of his argument,however, relies on the fact that the person reading his essay is an objective beholder of human nature. Not leaving this to chance, Machiavelli plays apsychological game with the endorser in order to convince them of his argument.     Machiavelli prefaces his thesis with commentary that attempts to placethe ratifier in a subordinate state-of-mind. He confesses to the reader that hefears appear presumptuous for writing about a subject co vered some(prenominal) timesbefore by others and differing from their opinion in the matter. This statementplaces the motive at the mercy of the reader and prep bes them to hear an ideathat may not be popular. Having been asked forgiveness for the pride of theauthor, the reader drops barriers that he may view as against arguments driven byego and opens his mind to Machiavelli on a personal, wholehearted level. By placinghimself at the feet of the reader, Machiavelli puts himself and his argument ina position of power. He wastes no time in using this power to gain more controlover the reader. In the next sentence he states that his objective is to createan outline for behavior in public office of implement to those who understand. Thisstatement compels the reader to agree with the points that the trustworthy,forthright Machiavelli argues, or be relegated the ranks of those ignorantdullards that do not understand. Machiavelli then presents his thesis, that aruler must use both good and evil in order to maintain his power over the state.The reader has almost no choice however to accept this idea before any proof hasbeen given. With the reader in the palm of his hand, Machiavelli needs only tomake a very normal argument of his point to convince the reader of its validity.     The author states that there are actions for which a prince is eitherpraised or blamed. He lists many examples of good qualities and their fenceattitudes. Instead of labeling them good and evil, however, Machiavelli titlesthem imaginary and real. By calling the good traits and the attraction who possesses