Machiavelli’s View of Human Nature Essay example -- Machiavelli The Pr

Niccolo Machiavelli was a political savant from Florence Italy. He lived during the Italian Renaissance from May 1469 to 1527. This period in time that Machiavelli lived was the resurrection of craftsmanship in Italy and rediscovery of antiquated way of thinking, writing and science. Machiavelli’s reasoning about the idea of man is that man has both great and terrible characteristics, yet will lean towards his own personal circumstances when everything is equivalent: in this way man is a whimsical animal. Machiavelli’s perspective on human instinct impacts his perspective on government.      Machiavelli composes, â€Å"that man has characteristics that will bring him either acclaim or blame† and in light of the fact that a sovereign is a man; thusly, he will likewise show these characteristics. A ruler should put his great characteristics out there in the open and be sufficiently smart to conceal his improper failings from his subjects; at the same time, if these indecencies are important to keep up his state, he should grasp them; since this appearance of a solid state by his subjects gives them a misguided feeling that all is well and good.      He states in passage fourteen that â€Å"since they (men) are a tragic part, and keep no confidence with you, you thus are under no commitment to keep it with them†. Machiavelli accepts that men will lie, cheat, or take in the event that it has some advantage to them, and keeping in mind that a ruler shows the...