The Prince (Il Principe) is Machiavelli’s most famous book. It is also one of the most famous works in the history of political philosophy, although it is perhaps not as philosophical as the Discourses.
The fame of the book rests on its objective and pragmatic approach, even to the point of cynicism, to political action. Machiavelli makes observations about the actual conduct of political leaders and looks at whether or not they achieve the results they set out to achieve. He then uses these considerations as a basis of practical recommendations, and these recommendations frequently go against common morality. Does the end, political stability, justify the means?
It is not obvious what Machiavelli wanted to achieve by writing The Prince. In the dedicatory letter he appears to be requesting a job working for the Medici government, but it has been noted that he undermines his own case by some of the advice he gives in the work (Chapter XXIII). Particularly the ending of the book has been interpreted by some to mean Machiavelli’s ideal was a unified Italy, and that he justifies his immoral advice with patriotic aims.
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