"The End Justifies the Means":A Last Resort

THE PHILOSOPHY

Regardless of the fact that even his name has come to be equated with cunning and political manipulation in modern times. Machiavelli himself was uniquely committed to furthering the agenda of what he thought of as a “true” leader. His books, The Discourses and The Prince, are, in fact, devoted to endeavoring to discover the laws of political behavior that lead to success in political action. The Prince, which is his most renowned work, centers on the principle that justifies the definition that: The Prince is a handbook for tyrants about obtaining and retaining political power at any cost ---that is, “the end justifies the means”. From this principle, Machiavelli establishes a number of “rules” he perceived vital to the obtaining and retaining process of a successful state. His aim was to persuade the monarch that he could best preserve his power by using violence carefully and economically, by respecting the persons, property, and traditions of his subje...