Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher, politician, and writer during the late 1400's and early 1500's. He is known by many as the father of modern political theory. Machiavelli is most famously known for writing "The Prince," which was an advice book showing princes how they should govern their lands and people. The Prince was well known for moving away from traditional ideas on how to lead, and creating new ones that had never been used before. .
The key difference between "The Prince," and other advice books for princes at the time was that Machiavelli "divorced the process from the Christian virtues" (Woodcock, 2010). Those values were the traditional values such as don't lie or steal or break your word. Machiavelli said that following those virtues will make a leader predictable, and lead to his eventual downfall. Machiavelli instead spoke of virtu. Virtu is the act of knowing what needs to be done in a certain situation and having the ability to do it. It is the ability to learn to play the game of politics to the best advantage. Machiavelli used the example of "the metaphor of the foxes and the lions. The lions get their way by scaring people. The foxes get their way by being crafty and cunning. The point was not to be a lion all the time, or not to be a fox all the time, but to learn when one needed to be like a lion and when one needed to be like a fox, and employing both skills at the correct time" (Woodcock, 2010).
The ideas that Machiavelli put forth in "The Prince" were considered to be shocking at the time, and are still considered a bit shocking today. He advocated doing whatever needs to be done in order to maintain their power. For Machiavelli, the ends justify the means, so it is alright to do what one wants to do, so long as the end result gets them what they wanted to begin with. Machiavelli championed ambition, saying that it was a good thing, and felt a ruler should seek out more power if they can.
