Should Leaders be moral? Machiavelli

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Should Leaders be moral? Machiavellis Prince

• PHIL 1003
• 2008-09

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Tutorial assignments

• Please submit directly to Dr Cook or Arthur the
  week of the tutorials
• Assignment is explained in the course outline, p.
  2.

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Ancients Legacy

• St. Augustine
• The polis (city of Man lt city of God)
• The rule of reason over the passions
• Problem of Sin and Evil (human enslavement to
  passions).
• Machiavelli
• The idea of the res publica (public thing/polis)
• Aristocratic rule rule by the best (Aristotle)

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Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527
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Who was Machiavelli?

• Italian writer and statesman
• Context
• many small, rival Italian states
• interference by France, Holy Roman Empire
• Served famous Medici rulers of Florence
  (city-state)
• Was disgraced, imprisoned and retired to his farm
• Author of
• The Prince, one of many handbooks for princes
• The Discourses (commentary on an ancient history
  of Rome)
• A history of Florence
• A work on war.

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Machiavellis name became synonymous with evil

• Machiavellian (adj.)
• a Machiavel (noun)

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Who was the Prince?

• Cesare Borgia, 1476-1507
• Illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI sister of
  infamous Lucrezia Borgia (poisoner)
• Became ruler of the Romagna in Italy
• Lost his state after his fathers death
• Died in a street fight in Spain
• Keys to his success
• His fathers power and his own ruthless methods.
• execution of own cruel deputy, Remirro de Orco
  (cut in half in the marketplace).

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Cesare Borgia
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Machiavellis doctrine

• Leader should not be moral
• Conventional Christian virtues
• charity,
• doing good to others (Golden Rule),
• obeying 10 Commandments,
• worshipping God.
• Why should the (new) Prince not practice these
  virtues?

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What does the Prince need?

• Needs power, to maintain his position
• Should do anything he can to to retain it
• Should use ruthless methods
• murder, lying, and any other crime necessary
• A new prince cannot observe all those things
  which give men a reputation for virtue (101).

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Machiavellis question about princes and the
peoples affections

• whether it is better to be loved than feared or
  the reverse?
• one would like to be bothbut because it is
  difficult to combine them, it is far better to be
  feared than loved if you cannot be both (96).
• Do you think statesmen today should follow this
  rule?
• Does the character of the state play any role?

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Cruelty used badly or well (pp.65-6)

• Used well
• Once and for alla few acts as examples (95)
• Better than repeated disorder (95)
• Necessary
• Easily forgotten if not repeated.
• Used badly
• Habitual
• Evident
• Becomes necessary to maintain power
• Examples?

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Cruelty is like an antibiotic

• Use it swiftly and not for too long.
• Too much compassion can be worse, allowing for
  prolonged civil unrest.

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Why? Human nature (96-7)

• Ungrateful
• Fickle
• Lying
• Cowardly will betray anyone to save oneself,
  especially a ruler whom one does not fear
• Greedy ruler must avoid taking subjects
  property and women
• Simple-minded someone is always ready to be
  deceived (100)
• Men judge by their eyes rather than by their
  hands (101).

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Appearance of virtue is desirable (100)

• Compassionate,
• Faithful to his word,
• Guileless,
• Devout.

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The Fox and the Lion

• Prince must unite beast and man
• Fox defenseless against wolves, but recognizes
  traps
• Lion defenseless against traps, but frightens
  off wolves
• Hence, be a great liar and deceiver
• those who have known best how to imitate the
  fox have come off best (100).

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The Discourses

• Commentary on a history of ancient Rome
• Masses may rule well
• when the populace is in power and is
  well-ordered, it will be stable, prudent and
  grateful
• in much the same way, or in a better way, than a
  prince, however wise he be thought.
• a prince who contemns the laws, will be more
  ungrateful, fickle and imprudent than is the
  populace
• government by the populace is better than
  government by princes (sec. I.58).

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Comparison w/ Aristotle

• A. gave a qualified approval to democracy
• A king or a few is/are easier to corrupt than a
  large number of people
• The people exhibit collective wisdom
• They are the ones being ruled, and so should be
  the judges of that rule
• No matter what the regime kinship/tyranny,
  aristocracy/oligarchy, democracy
• Just as the diners at a restaurant may judge the
  quality of the chef.

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Questions

• How would you apply Machiavellis doctrines from
  The Prince today?
• To leaders?
• To states?
• Are they more applicable to leaders or to states,
  or equally so?