Accomplishment of a Desired Result

It’s often interpreted that Machiavelli in the Qualities of the prince, advises a prince to be unscrupulous. That notion is neither true nor false. Machiavelli is suggesting that to be a successful prince, one must overlook his morals and ethics. According, to Machiavelli morals and ethics can hinder a prince’s success. He does not imply that one must be an immoral individual, but in order to possess power as a prince, one must practice being scrupulous as a leader.

Machiavelli believes that it is naturally impossible for a successful prince to be altruistic. Machiavelli’s view on morality implies that the accomplishment of a desired end result can be separated from the fault caused during its pursuit.

Machiavelli states that “for a man who wishes to make a vocation of being good at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good. Hence it is necessary for a prince who wishes to maintain his position to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge or not to use it accordingly to necessity” (88)This supports the claim that Machiavelli doesn’t encourage being a bad person, but in order to rule people you must learn to think like a bad person.

Not only does a successful prince know how not to be good,he knows how to apply this characteristic when it becomes necessary. He states a prince, “should not stray from good, but he should know how to enter into evil when necessity commands.

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” (95)Machiavelli explains that it is good to be generous but a successful prince knows that being too generous will eventually harm his reign. According to him being generous all the time eventually becomes a feature that is overlooked, leading to prince’s destruction.

Machiavelli suggests that it is better to be known as a miser, because sooner or later being too generous leads to being despised and hated. He states, “if he is wise, not worry about being called a miser; for with time he will come to be considered more generous once it is evident that, as a result of his parsimony, his income is sufficient, he can defend himself from anyone who makes war against him, and he can undertake enterprises without overburdening his people,” Machiavelli expresses that, “you become either poor or despised or, in order to escape poverty, rapacious and hated; and generosity leads you to both one and the other.” (91)Machiavelli advises that a successful prince has to possess immoral traits to reign ergo, It is impossible for a prince to be altruistic. He implies, “ And I know that everyone will admit that it would be a very praiseworthy thing to find tofind in a prince, of all the qualities mentioned above, those that are held to be good, but since it is neither possible to havem them nor to observd them all completely, because human nature does not permit it.” (89) He suggests a prince should work towards being feared not loved, because “love is held together by a chian of obligation,” while “fear is held together by a dread of punishement which will never abandon you.” (92)

Overall you can infer that Machiavelli believes that the accomplishment of a desired result can be separated from the fault caused during its pursuit. The end justifies the means in his eyes. Being an immoral prince is necessary to reach the end goal of being a successful prince. He mentioned g Hannibal as an example, stating that if Hannibal had not been cruel he would not have been able to accomplish what he did. Machiavelli advices a prince should obtain many traits that are deemed unscrupulous but it is necessary to be a successful prince. It can be suggested that Machiavelli believes in having ethical morals as an individual, but as a successful prince you must let go of those for a successful outcome.