“And if all men were good, this teaching would not be good; but because they are wicked and do not observe faith with you, you also do not have to observe it with them” (69). Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince is arguably the most famous and controversial political science book of all time. Many think of Machiavelli as synonymous with evil.
The father of the idea that the ends will always justify the means, the term Machiavellian has become connected with selfish, brutal, or immoral actions. Machiavelli has long been associated with totalitarianism, conquest, and tyranny. But is this label deserved? Is The Prince a book that expresses evil? Many argue that Machiavelli is not a teacher of evil, but bases his teachings on a pragmatic realism that has long been a part of politics. He would certainly not be the first to have such a view, and he is certainly not the last. In promoting his realistic view of power and politics, Machiavelli does not teach evil, instead, he uses......
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