Niccolò Machiavelli was a 16th century Italian philosopher. He lived during the Renaissance and most well-known for his political philosophy concerning statecraft. In particular, his work “The Prince” illustrates his Machiavellian philosophy (often) surrounding deviousness, cunning, and deceitful political tactics. Although, it is true his political philosophy is regarded with a negative connotation, he was a notable proponent of Republicanism. Machiavelli is often referred to as the “father of modern Political Science” and many of his works ushered in the age of modern western political philosophy. Machiavelli’s philosophy was heavily influenced by the classic works of Xenophon (student of Socrates), Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Democritus. He was an advent student of history, being the basis for many of his works from his studies of Ancient Rome, Medici politics, and Church-State dynamics. Many speculate that Machiavelli’s philosophy directly and indirectly inspired the early Federalist Party that altered the course of American history due to his overwhelming favoritism towards republicanism. Machiavelli’s influence continues to breathe light to many democracies and mixed governments worldwide.
Machiavelli came from a noble Florentine family where he grew up educated becoming an advent historian which provided the base for many of his philosophical views. In particular, he uses much of his career experience in diplomacy as evidence for his arguments. When Florence restored the republic after the fall of the Medici regime, Machiavelli became a Florentine representative diplomat. Due to the Florence’s lack of resources, he often found himself in difficult negotiations, because the Florentine republic would often shift from one stance to another whilst he was already engaged in negotiations. Despite these circumstances, he proved a very effective diplomat, often convincing other Italian city-states to wage their wars elsewhere far from Florentine borders. In addition, he also took part in preventing the Florentine Republic from expending their resources for many of the common proxy-wars that would occur within the Italian peninsula. Much of the disorder during Machiavelli’s time was due to the power dynamics in Italy; if one city-state gained power, the others would rally against them, keeping a dynamic equilibrium. However, within the Italian peninsula, the Papacy in Rome tended to disturb the balance of power. Popes came and went and so did their policies and wars. It was often Machiavelli’s mission to pseud the Papacy to leave Florence out of their conflicts and resist the threat of invasion. Later in his political career, he found himself leading a Florentine army in Pisa as the Florentine Secretary of War. During this campaign: he raised one of the first Florentine “citizen-standing” armies, as opposed to the conventional hired mercenary armies Florence usually employed. This concept is addressed in depth works such as The Prince and Machiavelli’s Art of War.
However, when the Medici family returned to Florence and usurped power, he found himself unemployed and unemployable. The Medici family saw his actions through the efforts of the Florentine republic, although Machiavelli tried his best to win favor in hope of getting back into diplomacy, he ultimately denied. Machiavelli wrote The Prince and sent it to one of the ranking officials in Florence in hopes that it would pseud them into giving him a job in politics. When it did not workout (presumably because it was never read by such official), he was known as womanizer and involved himself in the many pleasures of nobility life. It is important to note that Machiavelli did not write much philosophy during his time as a diplomat, only after he lost out on his job, he began writing his philosophical works. Aside from his lavish lifestyle, he spent a lot of time studying history and cultures of the nations he was sent on previous diplomatic missions such as: France and Germany. He dipped his feet in playwriting for some time where he obtained some popularity but was never able to return to his passion of politics. Machiavelli died in 1527 where a grand tomb was constructed in his honor.