Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (1532) - Essay Example

His arguments were not based on some empty theorizing or on some abstract ideas. This strategy proved efficient in making his readers to relate to the ideas in terms of their high sense of realism. The examples also enhanced the memory of the leaders as they could now convert them into other situations that related to the same ideas. It would be important to consider the fact that some of the issues that were brought about by Machiavelli derived from things and events that he had witnessed in real life.

As such, his arguments were only condensed out of the political realities of the day and from facts he had deduced from historical records. Historical and contemporary examples offered his arguments some form of comparative advantage when perceived from the perspective of other competing perspectives that existed during that time. It is therefore necessary to appraise the work of Machiavelli as a derivative of historical realism. Machiavelli’s arguments could be considered in terms of the various issues that relate to the discourse of real-politick.

His arguments were diagnostic in the sense that they exposed the characteristic of leadership from the point of view of the existing monarchs in various parts of the world. Historians contend that much of Machiavelli’s arguments were based on the life and times of Cesare Borgia and King Ferdinand of Spain. Machiavelli’s insistence on his acquaintance of contemporary affairs and a continuous study of the ancient world was meant to illustrate the fact that his arguments had the backing of political realities across the historical times.

It is important to consider the multiple historical and philosophical influences that weave into the thinking of Niccollo Machiavelli. For instance, his ideas were drawn out of the real-life experiences he had undergone, which he related to some of the dominant political forces that shaped the histories of the world. Reality, according to Machiavelli, is a social construct. It is therefore important to consider the many issues that attend to the influences that shape and are in turn shaped by the politics of the day.

As a result, Machiavelli is regarded as an honest interpreter of times and political realities particularly from a pragmatic point of view. He based his philosophy in the idea of the things that work. He sought to understand the reasons behind events and situations from the relationship between the means and the ends of such realities. As such, his insistence on knowledge of world affairs and the histories of great people was one of the illustrations of his tendency towards political realism.

On this note, it becomes necessary to consider some of the influences and happenings that engaged his opinions from the perspective of experience and reality. Constraints of a Prince’s Freedom of Action Machiavelli cited virtue, righteousness, honesty, and integrity as some of the factors, which hamper a Prince’s freedom of action. According to Machiavelli, a Prince must adopt characters and personalities that will help retain him in power. The Prince, according to Machiavelli must engage in the habits of both a lion and a fox1.

He must have the courage to fend off threats of the enemy and must have some cunning of a fox. Machiavelli recognizes the virtues of integrity and honesty as things that a Prince should only adopt for the purposes of enhancing his image, but not really to engage in them as aspects of his authentic character. Machiavelli argued that such habits