Securing power and order of a state has been the focus of ancient political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli’s writings. His most famous writing “The Prince” fortified his untraditional views on how to successfully rule a state. He recognizes through his realist views, that human nature causes a need for any degree of violence required to maintain power, and order in a state. This paper will expose how Machiavelli viewed violence as a necessary, yet moderated tool in order to rule a successful state. The paper will prove this by examining Machiavelli’s approaches to acquiring, maintaining, and defending a state, in his book “The Prince.”
In order to initially secure power over a state Machiavelli makes it clear that violence is a necessity. Firstly, he condones violence in eliminating the previous rulers, along with their families. Machiavelli uses this as a situation in which violence is key in order to secure a state under your name. On the other hand, he shows compassion through the moderation of this violence when he states that:
“Well-used cruelty (if one can speak well of evil) one may call those atrocities that are committed at a stroke, in order to secure one’s power, and are then not repeated, rather every effort is made to ensure one’s subjects benefit in the long run (Machiavelli, 2001: 437).”
This quote makes it evident that he thought of violence as a powerful and necessary tool in order to attain what you want, yet Machiavelli makes it known that he is a compassionate man, and that he is keeping in mind the welfare of the citizen’s in the state.
In dealing with political affairs within a state that one is ruling, Machiavelli is not long to suggest that cruelty (violence) should be imposed, although h ...