When somebody mentions the name Machiavelli, or the terms Machiavellian and Machiavellianism, what is the first thing that comes sicuro your mind?

I garantisse that you think of words like dark triad, duplicity, and manipulation. Or mediante a broader context the ability sicuro gain power through deception, insincerity, and abuse of power.

Actually, those are all wrong. They do play per role con the way Machiavelli expressed his political theories, but they all fail preciso paint an accurate picture of the man.

Machiavelli – Per Deep Scrutiny of his Philosophy and Tactics

He was probably the first political theorist that escaped the delusion of idealism and honestly proposed pragmatic solutions and interpretations of government. Apparently, his views were dramatically influenced by the time he lived in and his personal experiences, oftentimes exceeding the threshold of political correctness and blurring the lines between morally right and morally wrong. Nonetheless, they constitute verso powerful compendium of knowledge that is shaping the interpretation of power and influence until this very day.

At that point, I want to clarify something. The term Machiavellianism was coined by psychologists Christie and Geis sopra the 1970s as an attempt onesto explain the manifestation of power motive by exploiting and manipulating others con verso deceitful and unscrupulous fashion.

In all honesty, psychologists did that con a very irresponsible fashion. As we will see in a bit, Machiavelli was a very pragmatic and strategic philosopher. His views were influenced by the stato quo of the time and illuminate his ability esatto offer exhaustive sentiments regarding political theory. I believe that limiting verso man of his magnitude sicuro terms like duplicity and manipulation is unfair, onesto say the least.

Con this article, I am not going sicuro discuss dark triad characteristics and behaviors. I will narrow my analysis sicuro the lessons extrapolated by Machiavelli’s works per an effort sicuro draw a more accurate picture of the man and his views.

History and context

N iccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was born durante 1469 in Florence, Italy. His family was descended from the old rulers of Tuscany and they have produced many members that were part of the government of the time.

Back then, Italy consisted of many city-states that were usually ruled by different Houses. 1 Florence was among the largest city-states per Europe and was considered one of the wealthiest and most successful. Part of this success should be attributed onesto the “House of Medici” which was one of the strongest families of the time. The Medici controlled the Medici bank – then Europe’s largest bank – and this allowed them sicuro expand their influence and strategic alliances.

In 1494, after a popular revolt, the Medici were expulsed from power and Florence was restored puro per republic. It was then that Machiavelli received his first government role as the person responsible for the production of official Florentine government documents.

At this point, it’s quite critical onesto understand that those were really dark times durante Italy. Catholicism was at its zenith and the Pope was considered the most influential person alive. Powerful families had conflicting interests and were constantly trying esatto get the Church on their side. Any attempt onesto operate independently and against the will of the catholic governo was opposed and oftentimes brutally subdued.

Machiavelli was part of per government that wanted esatto liberate Florence from the Medici reign, but that was far from easy. The Medici had per strong alliance with the Pope and their recapture of Florence login black singles was per matter of time. From 1494 till 1512, Machiavelli experienced per series of career reversals as he was appointed government roles as per secretary of state, verso diplomat, and per military general. His career was quite turbulent and ended sadly con 1512 when he was deprived of office after the Medici won verso critical battle 2 that helped them emerge preciso power once again.