Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli by Torin McFarland

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

Why is this person important?
Niccolò Machiavelli is one of the greatest philosophers on political thought and ethics.  Mainly remembered for his book, The Prince, Machiavelli expressed an almost ill will towards the common people.  He contemplated why rulers should bother to have their people love them when fear is so much more effective.  He asserted that new rulers need not hide behind the morals that established rulers do, and moreover, to consolidate their power, rulers may do whatever they must.  These cynical and ethically questionable thoughts are what give the adjective "Machiavellian" a black undertone.  While he does have other studied works, Il Principe is what Machiavelli is most remembered for and what made him famous.

Why did you choose this person? How does her/his life relate to you?

When first learning about Machiavelli in middle school, the textbooks and teachers painted Machiavelli's word and thoughts in a rather unpleasant light.  I never understood this because to some extent, Machiavelli's moral compass aligned with mine, at least in the world of hypotheticals.  His cynicism about politics is reflected in my own, but there is more than just politics to Machiavelli.  After he retired, Machiavelli wrote both political theory musings and several popular plays.  I too love to write short stories and small pieces of fiction, but as a Business major, my past schedules as well as my future ones do not include creative writing.  Therefore, there is a certain parallelism between Machiavelli's writing of conceptual political theory and dramas and my writing of economic impact studies and short stories.

If she/he had never existed, would the world be different from how we know it now? Why?

Machiavelli is not a scientist or a painter or sculptor.  He was a writer, and so while his work has been preserved over the centuries, it is all highly conceptual.  It makes for great debates over government and politics, but it does not exactly have huge impacts on government.  So while Machiavelli's Il Principe is very interesting and thought provoking, if he had never existed, the world would most likely be an extremely similar place.  He is said to be the father of political science, and this is a major contribution to society and academia.  Unfortunately, it does not change the world to a great extent.

If you could meet that person, what would you ask her/him?
I would ask Machiavelli's opinions on World War II.  Obviously, there would be an information gap that would need to be covered, but even in nonspecific ways, it would be interesting to hear his opinions on major confrontations the United States has seen.  If that proved to be too much of an information jump for Machiavelli to be able to discourse, I would ask him to elaborate on The Prince.  It is an extremely thought provoking book and hearing a few lectures on it from the author would be enlightening.

Do you think the fact this person was Italian played a role in his/her achievement?

Traditionally, some of the world's most famous philosophers have come from Italy so it is not surprising that Machiavelli is Italian.  What may have helped Machiavelli on his path to becoming a renowned writer and philosopher was his location in an information trading mecca.  This allowed him to be exposed to so many different viewpoints and his city allowed him access to much of the best literature of the time.  Italy was famous for inventions and artwork and philosophy during the Renaissance, and Machiavelli's time was no exception.  Italy can easily be attributed as the main catalyst in making Niccolò Machiavelli the brilliant philosopher the world knows him to be.