Machiavelli had discussed this in the beginning of 'The Prince' about the human nature. Machiavelli had assumed and had given the human nature a dark picture to the extreme that some feel that he had considered humans to that of animals. According to Machiavelli human nature is completely selfish and packed with ego and that they always think about their own self interest like the masses desire safety and security and the ruler wants power, and that they are incredibly selfish to get and conquer their motives. Machiavelli has described humans as bad, evil, selfish, egoistic and depraved. Human wants does not have any particular limit, they are really greedy, sensual creature, mean, bad and depraved and he even continues on to saying that a individual only cares for himself, their family and their property and also to conquer this they are ready to do anything even to the extent of forgiving their enemy, he even says that to be able to guard their priorities they can even forgive the murder with their father or any kin for that matter than the seizure of his property or any harm to himself. Humans love themselves first and then think about other activities and that they aren't law abiding citizens. So long as the ruler offers the m the safety and the security that they desire that is the safety and security of these, their family and that of their house they are simply sated and also guard against any foreign invaders, and if the ruler is able to do this the masses are easy to rule and the state is well governed. According tom Machiavelli humans use the state and the government for their own selfish reason, profit and protection, they immediately start disliking or hating the matter that they can't achieve or is difficult to accomplish or has gone out of the reach and can deliberately have a tendency to avoid or delay it. Machiavelli also says that human by nature are wicked and aggressive, in the words of Sabine, "Human nature is moreover, profoundly aggressive and acquisitive, men aim to keep what they have and also to acquire more. Neither in power nor in possessions are always in fact limited by natural scarcity. Accordingly men are always in an ailment of strife and competition which threatens an open anarchy unless checked by the ruthless forces of their state. "
Machiavelli believes that human beings are insatiable and mean naturally. Humans are insatiable but filled with desires. His view regarding human nature is that of an high resemblance compared to that of Hobbes. Machiavelli's views regarding politics, religion and morality are essentially based on his view of human nature.
Machiavelli says that, "Men are ungrateful, fickle, deceitful, cowardly and avaricious. " Out of this it sums up to the final outcome a ruler or a monarch should aim rather to be feared than to be loved. Machiavelli says a ruler should protect the people, their own families and their properties and he can rule over them with no hassle. Machiavelli quotes, "Men love at their pleasure, but fear at the pleasure of the prince, who should therefore depend upon that which in his own, not upon whatever is of others. Yet he may be feared without being hated if he refrains from touching their property and their woman kind of his subjects, in case he avoid bloodshed excepting when you can find good cause and manifest justification for this is in as much as men easier forget the loss of their father than of their house. " With it he tends to say that man very much is in love with his priorities that he can go to any extreme and even turn evil to safeguard it from danger, Machiavelli here also mentions that apart from property men is also insecure of his women and that if anyone is eyeing their women they have a tendency to be aggressive and then it comes up to their ego, this notion or thought of Machiavelli can be seen right now.
Machiavelli's vie and point of human nature was very materialistic, he had rejected and turned down the ideologies of the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato who said that their state aims to make the people virtuous and good, he also dismisses the idea that existed in the medieval ages that the finish of their state is to smooth just how of a man to eternal salvation. Machiavelli as always was highly criticized for this but according to him, "The end of the state of hawaii is material prosperity. "
CRITICISM OF MACHIAVELLI'S NOTION OF HUMAN NATURE
Machiavelli's idea of human nature is highly criticized by many till today, by various people and on various grounds. Some of them being:
- Man by nature has some virtues and is not purely selfish.
- His idea of human nature does not consider the universal society. His views and ideas regarding human nature are the pure consequence of the observations he made and the conditions that prevailed at that particular amount of time in Italy. Based on the quote distributed by Sabine, "Machiavelli is not really much worried about badness or egoism as a general human motive and with its prevalence in Italy as an indicator of social descendance. To him, Italy stands as an example of corrupt society. " So here the criticism is that Machiavelli has supply the concept of human nature as at his time Italy's political position was unbalanced and he had observed and wrote according to that which his concept might be limited and not universal.
- According to Machiavelli's idea of human nature man is an animal who is bad and depraved and that he can't be reformed by any method. But he is here criticized with accordance to Plato and Aristotle who've said that throughout with the means of proper education man can be reformed.
- Machiavelli's saying that men is ready to sacrifice their kin or relations for the sake and security of his priorities, but Machiavelli here also says that the very best three priorities of man are life, family and then property, so how can he quit one priority to meet the other. No doubt that folks love their house nevertheless they love and have equally deep regard and affection for his or her family, kin's and other relations of blood.
According to all or any this and keeping in mind the critics it can be said that on the basis of the above give criticism and discussion Machiavelli can't be said as completely right, to some he could me, he and his ideas might be excellent for some but others may oppose it and it could not be according with their liking and ideology. But Machiavelli will not create an illusion he speaks and thinks practical and rational and reflects reality and most of his views are prevalent and is seen in the present or current day scenario, as in today's life we too observed and think that people have become selfish and that they think mostly about themselves, a lot of examples can get from our own personal life and what we observe of that of others.
MACHIAVELLI'S TAKE ON RELIGION
Before Machiavelli, almost all thinkers and political personalities believed and propagated and promoted religion as the foundation of the state. Plato considered state as the sole priority and religion to be a moral and a part of the state. Aristotle too believed that religion was a factor and the foundation for the proper administration of your good and excellent working state, but Machiavelli to be different did too believed in religion but his idea and the use of religion was totally and intelligently different, he made religion as just how as a basis for the advancement and the betterment of their state.
Throughout the middle ages it was the church was the dominant and the supreme and the major part of the state and the church had political power and ruled their state and the pope of the church had supreme authority even in the sway of politics, as god was feared and the church was the creation of the god therefore the popes or the daddy were given and was considered as a dominant authority on the situation compared to that of their state as that the soul has the supreme authority over the body, it was during that time that it was assumes that the church has a superior authority and position as compare, but Machiavelli was against this idea as he thought of it differently and with this and his intellectual thoughts he believed and promoted religion but with his own twist of idea. It had been Machiavelli and his idea that there should be a separation of religion from politics; it was Machiavelli who divorced religion from politics and segregated them completely in one another like his separation of ethics and moral from politics. He believed that politics mounted on something is not real politics and that it ought to be played or governed using one on one basis.
Machiavelli, he gave less importance to religion as compared to the state. The state of hawaii according to Machiavelli does not have any important relation to the church but it addittionally has no relation to God or any other super natural power for the matter of fact, he says that the state needs religion only as an instrumental object for furthering its object. According to Allen, "In Machiavelli's views the state of hawaii can be understood only in terms of human lusts and appetites and that the successful ruler must figure out how to control these forms. "
As he gave less importance to religion, he at the very same time explained and accepted that morality has a restricted put in place the society and they should and must be both exploited and preserved. He thus was unmoral rather than immoral.
Machiavelli thought that religious element in the society is a driving force which a clever and intellectual ruler can use to turn the table in the overall game of politics and use religion for his or her own advantage and growth of their state. For him the ruler should be a smart to work with religion so that the masses are happy therefore that it's for the better administration of the state. Because of this he promoted religion but keeping his own interest and thought in mind. He was even regarded as somebody who is against religion and person who will not believes and for that reason he was disliked and opposed many a times. But he always made his thinking and perception of religion clear, According to Machiavelli religion is a guiding principle which prevents you from doing or committing anything wrong, religion makes a person righteous makes them fearful and more law abiding, it is almost always seen a religious person is a god fearing person and for this reason fear he is more into religion, a lot more he is into religion a lot more he will go in line with the religious teachings so that all the religion teaches good to a person and that they should be just and moral so the more he's morally developed and the more he is morally developed he'll think before doing anything wrong and it will lead to less wrong doings which also mean less crimes and law breaking, the lesser the crime the administration works smoothly and which in turn hails and makes the state better, so Machiavelli did believe I religion but with a but he added his own sense of twist there for the betterment of the state of hawaii. He similarly encouraged people to be more and much more religious and on the other hand he also set certain strategies for the ruler to assume and pretend to be merciful, god fearing, righteous, religious and powerful but when it involves their state the ruler can and really should go to any extremes for the sake and the security of the state of hawaii even if he has to be or is known as to be immoral. Thus the ruler to be able to rule should be highly pretentious in case he pretends to the masses they would be easy to rule conditioned that the ruler should protect their initial priorities regarding security and safety of these their family and their house.
Machiavelli's separation of religion can be an outstanding idea and just how he uses religion for the advancement of the society and the betterment of the administration is absolutely commendable. His idea of the ruler as a pretender is so relevant event in the current time, as politicians and other influential personalities even though highly corrupted and evil from within tend and try to make a specific and a white impression to and in front of the masses and hoax them in order to increase their vote banks or to gain their benefit and profit. So what Machiavelli had thought and perceived about this centuries ago continues to be quite definitely there and prevails in the present context.
Thus Machiavelli considered religion as a powerful instrument so far that it's in the hands of the wise ruler to sustain and uphold the national morale of the state of hawaii.
