Machiavelli’s Letter to Francesco Vettori and The Prince

Machiavelli’s Letter to Francesco Vettori and The Prince. Background: The Prince is a “how-to” manual for a Renaissance prince (or duke, etc.) in Italy: it contains rules and principles which a prince, if he is to be a successful ruler, should follow. Even today, centuries after The Prince was written, Machiavelli still has enormous influence over political thought and behavior, even in democratic nations such as the United States.

Choose one of the following:
10A—What does Machiavelli’s letter, written from a rural area to which he had been
banished from Florence for political reasons, suggest he was really cut out to be?
Once the formal work The Prince begins, how does Machiavelli distinguish himself
from previous writers of history and politics?
10B—What should the ruler’s attitude toward religion be? Why? What does the
long passage that begins on p. 26 of your course booklet (p. 1957 of Machiavelli’s
work). Explain this passage in detail, clarifying every difficult point. Do you agree
with Machiavelli’s analysis of people’s behavior?
10C—The Prince asks a series of questions, in Chapters 16, 17, and 18, all following
the format “Should a prince do ‘x’ or ‘y’?” As you read through the political work,
choose two categories—e.g., is it better for the prince to be loved or feared? And is it
better for the prince to be stingy or a liberal spender—and write about which choice
Machiavelli advocates, and the reasons why he does.
10D—Based on your reading of The Prince, what opinion does Machiavelli have of
the ordinary people—the subjects—over whom the Prince rules? Does Machiavelli
capture human nature accurately? Does he miss anything? If so, what?
In-class discussion. Is Machiavelli still relevant today? Explain. Where could his
policies be enacted? Is there any country in which they couldn’t be?