Telling the Story of Machiavelli's The Prince

 Telling the Story of Machiavelli's "The Prince"

Published by: Alec Barbour

What “Machiavellian” really means - Pazit Cahlon and Alex Gendler

Throughout the course of history, we have seen a number of arguments in which Machiavelli presents his theories as an ethical thinker, because ultimately, as a republican, he has been known to show the readers that the consequences of becoming a prince are ensued when trying to practice by the means of our language and provides how we can distinguish them. From the course of “The Prince”, we have been presented by a number of writers who have been inspired by the work of Machiavelli and try to present their case or means in an article formation, and one of those being names is Erica Benner who was one of them and published her article entitled “Machiavelli's Prince: A New Reading”. Benner’s work in regards to “The Prince” is presented in a way to show the irony that went into play by Machiavelli’s novel, but since she establishes her thoughts through the course of democracy, she argues on the matter which doesn’t consist of what both republicans and democrats would do together if Machiavelli’s theory of being prince would signify their beliefs together. To go further into the article, one thing that Benner argues about the mindset of the republican ambition is “Machiavelli describes and seems to commend republican Rome’s ambition to dominate the ‘free’ province of Greece, although he also states that there was no pressing necessity for the conquest” (Benner, 304). Looking back on the novel, there is a clear understanding in regards to his view on politics that free republics are better by having power structures that can Harnish the principalities. Another example we can see from Benner’s argument is “Machiavelli’s subtle criticisms of any policy that depends on the advantages he identifies with fortune” (Benner, 308). Benner’s words show the praise for Machiavelli because it seemed as if he was trying to make the most wretchedness out of his accomplishments so that he can educate his viewers and show them they are not to succumb to the rhetoric’s of a prince’s work. Ultimately, Benner’s main theme for the article was to provide details from the early chapter of Machiavelli’s Prince and show that people need to take into account of what a ruler or republican can conduct with the course of popular sentiment. 

This photo represents an Italian Impression during the 16th century where the family of Darius III would be conquered by Alexander the Great. This was something that was relevant to Machiavelli because he based his opinions upon the Near East where it would eventually be ruled again by the Ottoman Empire.

After reading Benner’s article, and making a comparison to Machiavelli’s novel, one of the main point of views is that Benner was wanting to address the importance of the people’s safeties and needs that are going to be brought by the orders of the prince. One of the points that she makes early in the article if when a prince that understood the reliance of his people and having to make a principality that will be stable for the future, will virtually become impossible to overcome. To make a link to this claim, what Benner claims about Machiavelli’s use of teaching is provided when she quotes “the Prince seeks to teach princes how to convert their quasi-monarchies into republics” (Benner, 309). This is relevant to what Machiavelli claimed in his novel because one of the things that he mentions about the use of forming monarchies is early in chapter three when he quotes “hereditary states which have grown used to the family of their ruler are much less trouble to maintain than the new ones are” (Machiavelli, 5). From these two different opinions, it provides a great detail that Machiavelli was willing to provide the usage that it can make a prince more equipped to turn smaller and less troublesome families into their own state of monarchy which shows that Benner believed Machiavelli was more focused on the means of his reputation as prince than the necessary needs of the people surrounding this republic.  

https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/machiavelli-s-prince-a-new-reading/

The idea and mindset that Machiavelli was willing to achieve was in a manner of a faithless brutality. In regards to that, his belief was that is not sufficient to redeem the combat of the law and that people like him should recourse themselves in order to force the worst of all situations and that can be not considering the natures of combining both law and force together. One of the things that can be consistent to what Machiavelli was trying to claim was something that he mentions in chapter fifteen, “he should not worry about incurring the infamy of those vices without which it would be hard for him to save his state, for carefully taking everything into account, a man will discover that something resembling a virtue would, if it were put into practice” (Machiavelli, 49). The circumstances that Machiavelli brings to the rest of the world are equipped with the collapsing of the both tyranny and also kingship because from his perspective, good laws can be naturally followed if it came from a good military, in other words the understanding of wars in a conventional sense are deemed necessary for his republic. This was one of the examples set by Machiavelli, and in my opinion, it shows a great detail that many viewers will get equipped and obsessed with these skills of becoming someone powerful that they will lose sight of the true importance’s of democracy and organized systems. Which is why from Benner’s article, she goes into detail about the importance of hereditary princes that will go further into being equipped with the use of having an “ordinary industry” and also be able to provide good orders, so that it will not lack "extraordinary vices" which will allow them to work harder and have their states maintained in a good manner for all. One of the things that was most important to present to Benner’s overall meaning of the article was “"while the necessity to offend is a natural and ordinary consequence of becoming a new prince, the wish to be or to create a new prince is not itself natural, ordinary, or necessary" (Benner, 333). This translates to the importance of what the word ordinary was defined as in regards to Machiavelli’s belief, that principality is not something that can be considered ordinary or even naturally, it is something that can be equipped if the person has the free-will and understanding to combine forces of both law and stability that can make a union or place flow more naturally in the renaissance. 

Work Cited 

Benner, Erica. "From Machiavelli's Prince: A New Reading". Third Norton Critical Edition. Published 2013

Erica Benner, Machiavelli's Prince: A New Reading, Oxford University Press, 2013, lv + 343pp., $85.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780199653638.

 

Telling the Story of the Early Renaissance

Published by Alec Barbour

        Throughout the course of the adorations, there have been a number of paintings and different styles that have made a major contribution to the rest of the world, in a way where one person can take a piece of art and evaluate it through its eyes and also with the help of helpful resources, they can fully appreciate the true concept of composition and perceptiveness. There have been a number of art styles during the Italian Renaissance, but one of them stood out the most to me as a student because there was so much characterization being portrayed by the figures that it allowed me to continue to further evaluate the art work and that was from Sandro Botticelli who created “Adoration of the Magi” that was supposed to represent Botticelli during the year 1475. According to Botticelli, this painting was to commission the final seven versions of “The Adoration of the Magi”. In the scene, we are seeing several people who are presumed to be the Medici family, from there we can evaluate that the Magus are bowing down and on top of that, we have the three magi who are presented as the stages of life. In terms of civilians, the three magi were Cosimo, Giovanni, and also Pietro, from there we are given the exact understanding as to what the other paintings that represent the Adorations of the Magi, where they find Jesus by following a common star that leads and allows them to present a meaningful gift or worship towards life. This is relevant to the resources provided from chapter twelve and to quote “Magi are shown as three generations of the Medici family; the sons of Pierro” (Cunningham, 280). Given the text provided from the resource of Cunningham, the overall understanding was for Botticelli to create a version from which she believed would be the most logical sense in terms of what reality could like it without it seemingly impossible to glance at a painting. So, in overall terms, it was a great evaluation because ultimately, Botticelli’s painted was made to become part of a chapel in Santa Maria Novella by the Lama family who were eventually going to patronized it.

        Sandro Botticelli (1445 - 1510)

        Since Sandro Botticelli has become one of the best-known artists from the early western civilization and also the early fifteenth century, there is a lot more to it when it came to development and processing of the workplace skills that went into “The Adoration of Magi”. According to the Renaissance Studies, they published an article entitled “Quality choices in the production of Renaissance art: Botticelli and demand” and in their article, they mentioned a lot about how many artists were being drawn away from the creation of hand working craftsmanship due to the increase of publishing companies. To quote one of those statements, one of the things they mentioned “the ironic fact is that as high demand required master painters to turn out more and more work, they were themselves less and less engaged directly in making it” (Studies, 2014). Just from this quote alone, it is clear to determine that as Italian artists became more popular in their work and had the economies and publishing companies to help manufacture more of these prints, they were being driven away from the joy and nature of creation that made them for who they are. This can be later determined in ways where workers who help create “The Adoration for Magi”, there work was nothing compared to Botticelli’s original work. Ultimately, this background information is a clear understatement that Renaissance paintings became the ultimate design for the fifteenth century but it did also draw in a new system of making paintings faster and more equipped for number of proportions across Europe.

"Adoration of the Magi" (Botticelli, 1475)

https://www.artnews.com/feature/sandro-botticelli-who-is-he-why-is-he-important-1234581919/

    In many ways, the word humanism can be referred to by a number of outcomes but from my understanding it’s mostly been presented as a reference to a philosophy of life but in a progressively mannered way. Throughout the world and other populations, the fifteenth century has been known to portray a number of events that took place, from the foundations of a new world to the ultimate printing press of economic companies that are increasingly expanding every day. This is why we have humanism, because it is a knowledge to establish the greater good from the purposes that we bring to the world. Like Sandro Botticelli’s painting of “Adoration of the Magi”, it was meant to present a meaning of humanism through the course of Italian culture. For instance, in chapter twelve, there is a reference to the understanding for why this painting had a purpose in life and to quote, “Many scholars believe it was votive offering to the church in thanksgiving for the safety of the family during the political turmoil of 1466” (Cunningham, 280). Because of this, there is a meaning of peace, joy and solitude because there was a purpose in which to provide a necessary tool of knowledge of a certain culture that wanted to relive with them throughout the course of their lifetime. Not only does this painting share knowledge of what life was like in the fifteenth century it provides a great aspiration for the outcome of what a foundation could start with the creation of a new Italian renaissance. Looking back on how this painting was affected me emotionally, it showed me that the renaissance was a major contributor to how the rest of Europe would be put together for new generations to come, and that is why I think using the term pejorative to the context of humanism is an insult to both the world of nature and culture. The reason I say this is because many people do not appreciate the history that came about with all events and rough moments in early modern life, that all should be equipped for an understanding to accept the beginning of new era of would define humanism in the world of the Italian renaissance and the fifteenth century.

Work Cited

O’Malley, Michelle. “Quality Choices in the Production of Renaissance Art: Botticelli and Demand.” Renaissance Studies, vol. 28, no. 1, Wiley, 2014, pp. 4–32, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24423863.

Cunningham, Andrew. "The Anatomical Renaissance: The Resurrection of the Anatomical Projects of the Ancients" Chapter 12. Published 1997.

Importance of Renaissance

 The Importance of the Renaissance

By: Alec Barbour

Published: 01 February 2022

Above everything, Christianity has become of the largest religious communities with over two billion followers and this is due to the faith that most people have set their beliefs on which is the events of life and death and mostly the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even though there may be many different religious forms or beliefs, Christianity is set on one purpose which is the belief in only one God. From my understanding, this is why I sort of like the outcome of what Christianity does to a certain individual which is revolving around the life of Jesus. In regards to similar circumstances, the role that Islam plays in world history is also important to detail here because Islam is also another term for “the submission for God”. One of the important things to know about Islam is that most Muslims believed that everyone can have a free will but most have permission in regards to Allah, which is connected to the founder of Muhammad, and lastly one of the things that I enjoyed about Muslims was the matter in which they respected a number of prophets that Christians had with Jews. Now, Ancient facts in regards to humanities are also important to point out, including in which Ancient Greece came into our world. One of the biggest things that Greece has been known for is its philosophy and architecture, and one of the things that I liked about this was the expansion and development that went into creating Greece. From the beginning, Greece was referred to as the “Dark Green Ages” where there were a number of people scattered and just living in small villages, but as it grew they created larger communities which resulted in governments so that citizens can be organized and follow rules that will lead to healthy environment. Since, this was formed wonderfully well, there is another important artifact that I enjoyed when it came to Ancient Rome, and that was the matter in which Rome went from a small village to a complete empire where legends have said that there were seven kings that were all elected by the senate. This is one of the biggest important events because eventually it led to a downfall that took place in 509 B.C. where the seventh king was overthrown due to cruelty. Basically all of these facts that I enjoyed were based upon learning the concept for how each of these were first created or founded in our world history.

 

From my first understanding of how Christians were formed from their beliefs in God, I did not know how important the Bible was to Christianity. The bible has been known as a guidebook for all Christians which has led to the conclusion that there are laws set by God in which they have to follow. For example, an important quote that has been praised for is “Reading the Bible is a spiritual discipline, which means that we need to be disciplined in how we approach it” (Diffey, 2019). This shows me as a student that Daniel Diffey who is a professor that many people will turn to this as a reference when they are faced with dilemma or just by means of living a life with the belief in god’s words. Miltary Expansion was one of the things that I never know about when it came to learning about Ancient Rome because at this time it was the beginning of saying that size and control were major factors in what Rome was trying to pursue. For instance, they took control over Sicily and destroyed the city of Carthage. And then also Colonization was a major factor in Anicent Greece because it has been known to relieve a lot of attention towards the people who lived in Greece, and later expanded from North Africa all the way to the Black Sea.

 

Looking back on what all of these categories bring to the overall outcome for the renaissance, it is easy to say that they all represent a meaning of belief and wisdom and this is because Christianity has shown everyone including me that maybe following the rules of a bible and knowing the beliefs of what God gives to Christians will somehow result in the pursuit of happiness. And the outcomes in which Rome and Greece provide, show me also that there are some very powerful people in our world that can do anything that will lead them to success in regards to civilization and how cultures work in each different state. Islam is on that same page as well learning the importance of monotheism because it was a fundamental aspect for the religion. For instance, one of the things that Crash Course provides is the words “the importance of taking care of those less fortunate than you” (Crash Course, 3:00). This allowed me to appreciate the overall outcome of what this religion as well as the rest of the religions that everyone is only fitting in to become a good citizen for that one religious purpose and that is representing what their people and leaders do in everyday life. Ultimately, all of these taught a valuable lesson and that was to understand that everyone can have a purpose in life through the course of religious purposes  for which can be pursued to evaluate themselves into better human beings. 

 

Work Cited:

Diffey, Daniel. "The Importance of Reading the Bible", Grand Canyon University, Published 23 May, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpcbfxtdoI8

https://theconversation.com/how-to-correctly-engage-with-catholicism-and-islam-in-public-commentary-44583