Pre-reading Questions:
Machiavelli praises skill in warfare in the opening because a prince needs to be powerful and that power needs to be known to others. It is an important trait for a prince because he believes that warfare is not just for war, but for defense. If a prince cannot defend nor attack others, he has little hope in ruling his kingdom for long time.
According to Machiavelli for a prince, it is better to be feared than loved.
Questions for Critical Reading: 1. Machiavelli talks about how the prince should seek aid in the opinions of his trust advisors, but still know how to control his way of ruling. If the prince distributes his power, his power of ruling will become weaker. He also talks about how he can be loved by his people, but not too much can lead people to disappointments and his flaws will be exposed. 2. I agree with Machiavelli when he asserts that the great majority of people are not good because I believe most people are just using others for their advantage, like a stepping stone, or could care less about other people, especially because of greed or feeling power. I cannot really say what our government says about this because our government does help people out, but at the same time, I feel like that it has its own agenda planned. 3. The contemporary counterparts to the prince should be knowledgeable in the art of war, however, this does not give the prince time to not learn the art of war. They are merely for the prince to help him, if needed. War has evolved over the course of time, but there was a time when the use of paid men helped princes or kingdoms to fight their battles. 4. Machiavelli is saying that if a prince tries to be too liberal, things will backfire and he should not try to overwhelm the situation if he is putting himself in danger rather than being known as liberal. 5. I believe that modern politicians would be able to succeed following most of Machiavelli’s points. Machiavelli has good reasoning and has ideals are still able to be applied to modern day life.
Calendar Questions: 1. The “ends” is the final product or the action while the “means” is how you got to the ends or the effect of the action. They are important because how one achieves a goal to define what kind of ruler they are and the product defines how successful a ruler is. 2. Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the later stages of the French Revolution and its associated wars in Europe. Napoleon did follow some of Machiavelli’s points and became one of the most powerful leaders of Europe, but he didn’t follow Machiavelli’s way of power and warfare, which led him to his defeat. 3. A lot of the time it would be when killing a small few would save a larger scale amount of people or the reverse where the sacrifice of many would save a few or one very important individual.
Journal Entry: “The Prince” by Niccolo
