Why Does Machiavelli praise skill in warfare in his opening pages? How does that skill aid a prince?
In the beginning of the reading, The Qualities of the prince by Nicclo Machiavelli, he talks a lot about how a prince should know nothing more then war. He says “A prince, therefore, must not have any other object nor any other thought, nor must he take anything as his profession but war, its institutions, and its discipline” (Machiavelli 37). This to me is the beginning of why Machiavelli praises skill in warfare. I say that because to me he is showing he believes that the most important thing for a prince to know is war. As he continues on with this sentence he says, “…it is evident that when princes have given more thought to personal luxuries than to arms, they have lost their state” (Machiavelli 38). This part of the sentence really showed me why Machiavelli he praises skill in warfare because in this part of the sentence to me it seems that to him princes should not even give thought to luxuries because war is the most import. In other words to sum this up I think he praises skill in warfare because he believes war is the most important thing when it comes to a prince.
Having the skill for warfare aids a prince according to Machiavelli in a couple ways. One way he mentions “..a prince who does not understand military matters, besides the other misfortunes already noted, cannot be esteemed by his own soldiers, nor can he trust them” (Machiavelli 38). In other words to me this means understanding military can aid to a prince in the sense of his soldiers. If he knows the military his soldiers are able to trust him and the prince is able to trust them. Another way I thought showed how warfare aids a prince was when he mentions about knowing the land, from this he says “..a prince who lacks this ability lacks the most important quality in a leader; because this skill teaches you to find the enemy, choose a campsite, lead troops, organize then for battle, and besiege towns to your own advantage” (Machiavelli 39). From this I took that knowing warfare in the sense of land, it aids to a prince because knowing the land can not only have advantages for the prince but also to the people.
Works Cited
Machiavelli, Niccolo. “The Qualities of the Prince.” A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. pp35-51
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1 comment:
You did a great job pointing out the main characteristics for a prince to have. Not only does it give the prince an advantage to know his land for battle but it also gives him an advantage in how to prevent attacks from intruders.
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