Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism

  • Submitted By: blackheart27
  • Date Submitted: 12/08/2009 11:20 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1320
  • Page: 6
  • Views: 1

Miranda, Jennifer
Dr. Barbato
English 101
26 April 2009

Jacquelene C. Moore inspired me because she metaphorically explains what the world went through during the Renaissance era:
Taking one foot and putting it in front of the other, that is the only way to travel forward...If however you take steps forward whilst looking backward; well -then you will fall over because you end up tripping over something you would easily have seen if looking where you were going in the first place. So, when looking back just stay still for a moment, allow yourself to reflect, but then you must at some point turn around and just keep moving - or you will stagnant on the spot which means going nowhere at all.
The term Renaissance is French for rebirth. The Renaissance era was a massive cultural upheaval: “Artists of all kinds in western Europe became more aware of the classical past and the world beyond the narrow confines of medieval theology” (Gifford). Niccolo Machiavelli was amongst those artists. An examination of Machiavelli’s influence on the Renaissance era through his life, his famous book Il Principe (The Prince), and the world of Machiavellianism reveals principles that are still relevant in today’s society.

Niccolo Machiavelli was born on May 3rd, 1469 in Florence, Italy. Little of Machiavelli’s early life has been documented: “It is known that as a boy he learned Latin and that he quickly became an assiduous reader of the ancient classics” (Niccolo). According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “It is speculated that [Machiavelli] attended the University of Florence, and even a cursory glance at his corpus reveals that he received an excellent humanist education.” When Machiavelli was 29 years old, he got involved in the volatile Florentine political scene when he helped the political faction that deposed Girolamo Savonarola, then the dominant religious and political figure in Florence. “In the same year Machiavelli was...