Introduction
If Niccolò Machiavelli was alive today, he would attribute the modern version of virtùes by leaders and politicians as the source of political decay. Machiavelli would then be quick to complement the kind of leaders who are thought to be the worst and also roundly rebuke those that we consider to be the best. Most importantly, Machiavelli would consider the existence of democratic constitutions such as the one in the USA. This is because limitations on the power of the leader will eventually lead to an unstable state and unhappy populace. The most interesting thing about the analysis above lies in the fact that Machiavelli based his most famous book, The prince on the subject of virtùe which he called virtù. In modern parlance, virtùe can be described as what a good person should do under any circumstances. Machiavelli took the very same meaning of virtùe to define his virtù but with a twist. For an ordinary person, virtù means doing the right thing all the time, but for a prince, virtù means what is now called expediency. Expediency can be defined as what is convenient and practical without undue regard to ethics or morals. As per virtù, as long as the prince is acting like a normal human being in his private capacity, he should be the embodiment of normal virtùes, ethics, and morality but when acting as a prince, the best solution for the state under the circumstances must also be the right thing to do. Machiavelli’s virtù is arguably positive advice geared towards the good of any state as opposed to negative advice geared towards tyranny.
Overview of Machiavelli’s Virtù
Divorce Political and Personal Morality
The first prerequisite of virtù is the duality of conduct for the prince, first as a human being and secondly as a prince. Under the argument, the prince must not let his conduct as a human being interfere with his conduct as a prince. As a human being, the prince must be careful to always do the right thing as long as it is limited to personal issues. For a start, the prince must be careful to maintain a good personal reputation: “ So everyone was outraged by his peasant origin and afraid of his barbarity ” (The Prince, 43). As shall be revealed from the argument below, being evil or acting with barbarity as outlined by the quote is an integral part of virtù. The quote, however, makes reference to Maximinus who faced so much rebellion as Emperor that the Roman Senate plotted with the populace to dethrone him. Maximinus may have acted appropriately as a prince but his private reputation as a peasant, which reputation he must not have done much to change led to his downfall. Normally, being cruel may have been considered as being a tough leader and led to fear, had it been done by a prince with a good reputation. However, cruelty by a peasant was seen as barbarism and led to his downfall. On the one hand, the prince needs to have a positive personal or private reputation. On the other hand, the personality of the individual should end when the conducting official duties begins. The moment the prince begins to act in an official capacity, a new version of virtù begins based in a new definition of virtù describe hereinbelow.
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Doing the Right Thing at the Right Time:
The definition of virtù for a prince is predicated in expediency and dictated purely by natural and common necessity. In a literal translation, virtù for the prince means doing the situation demands based on the outcomes. If the outcomes demand that good deeds are needed, then the prince should act in a good way. However, if the situation demands that the prince acts in a negative way, then the price should and must act in a negative way: “ Thus, a prince who wants to keep his power must learn how to act immorally, using or not using this skill according to necessity ” (The prince 33). It is important to note that in the quote above, Machiavelli does not encourage immorality as many in modern times would want to accuse him of. Indeed, a close reading of the quote will reveal that acting morally is the default while acting immorally is the last result that only need to be taken if necessity demands it. Virtù, therefore, does not mean being an immoral leader but rather being able to make the hard choices as and when the situation demands.
Ignoring what others Think about what the Prince is doing
As and when the prince needs to make hard choices due to necessity, virtù demands that the prince be able to avoid the kind of hubris that makes people want to be loved by all. The basis of this argument is enshrined in the argument made by Machiavelli about whether being feared is better than being loved. The entire argument is aptly reduced into one statement: “ Well, one would like to be both; but it’s difficult for one person to be both feared and loved, and when a choice has to be made it is safer to be feared ” (The prince, 36). Once again a casual reader may take the entire issue of being feared as opposed to being loved as advocating for tyranny, but this notion is false based on the quote above. Machiavelli does not advice the prince not to seek the love of the populace. Indeed, the quote above clearly shows that if being feared and loved contemporaneously was possible, the prince should pursue it. However, when being feared and being loved becomes mutually exclusive, the prince should have the courage to choose to be feared rather than be loved. From a different perspective, Machiavelli is making the argument that for a prince, virtù means being able to sacrifice hubris for duty as everyone would want to be loved but in some cases for a prince, being feared gets the job done.
Being Evil or Good depending on Circumstances
Higher up that being feared in the measure of controversy for virtù is the concept of being evils instead of good when necessity demands. As carefully outlined by Machiavelli, being good, which demands mercy can be worse than being evil, which demands cruelty: “ Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; yet his ‘cruelty’ restored order to Romagna, unified it, and restored it to peace and loyalty. When you come to think about it, you’ll see him as being much more ·truly· merciful than the Florentines who, to avoid a reputation for cruelty, allowed Pistoia to be destroyed. ” Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander IV, is reputably one of the evilest leaders who ever lived yet he is championed as the very manifestation of virtù by Machiavelli. The quote above refers to troubled times in Romagna during the reign of Pope Alexander. The Florentines were kind, good and merciful to their realm while Cesare Borgia was, seemingly a cruel and murderous tyrant. However, when the enemy came, the area governed by Borgia was, through an iron-fisted rule organized and ready to defeat the enemy. Under the Florentines, the Pistoia’s populace had become disorganized and assuming because of the mercifulness of their leaders. Borgia’s people were saved while Pistoia’s populace as massacred. Based on the above, Machiavelli makes the argument that sometimes cruelty and evil are necessary to avoid greater evil and greater cruelty. Virtù demands that the leader has the courage to make the hard call and act cruelly when necessity demands.
Being Ahead of Your Enemies All the Time
Finally and perhaps most importantly, the prince should be able to use the sum-total of the above characteristics to stay ahead of his enemies. It is relatively easy for any prince to stay ahead of his enemy, but as Machiavelli argued from time to time, most princes will have more than one enemy contemporaneously. Among the most important obligations of most of the prerequisites of virtù defined above is to enable staying ahead of multiple enemies contemporaneously. Among the best examples of staying ahead of enemies is reflected by the story of Severus: “ Thinking it would be too risky to declare himself hostile to both, Severus decided to attack Niger and deceive Albinus” (The Prince, 42). The quote comes at the point where Severus takes the throne through treachery after two consecutive preceding emperors, Pertinax and Alexander Severus had been executed. Severus knew that he might soon face the same face either from Niger or from Albinus, two powerful regional governors. Severus decided to attack Niger immediately but to prevent Albinus from acting against him; he sent deceitful letters declaring Albinus co-emperor. With Albinus busy celebrating. Severus killed Niger then turned around and killed Albinus. His actions may be considered as vile and deceitfu, but Severus is lauded for having finally brought peace to the empire. Virtù, therefore, demands that staying ahead of the prince’s enemies be done at all costs.
Discussion: How Virtù Contributes to the Stability of the State
Virtù provides stability by keeping the prince alive and ruling. The stability of the state is primarily predicated on the life of the prince and as clearly outlined in the argument above, virtù is mainly about keeping the prince alive and on the throne. As reflected by the many murder or rulers in the book The Prince, the people are always eager to kill their ruler. Hence the prince must do whatever it takes to stay alive. One has, however, to wonder what the staying alive of the prince has to do with the stability of the state, a question that Machiavelli is quick to answer: “ Because such breakdowns harm the whole community, whereas a prince’s death sentences affect only one person at a time ” (35). The quote above is made by Machiavelli as he seeks to justify the cruelty of a new prince. He argues that the death of a prince is just the death of one person but it leads to chaos including lawlessness, murder, and robbery. Most importantly, when a new prince takes the thrown, great cruelty will be necessary to bring the realm back to order. To avoid such chaos, death, and cruelty, it is better for the reigning prince to use virtù as outlined above to stay on the throne hence maintain stability.
Discussion: How Proper Exercise of Virtù Contributes to the Happiness of the State
The happiness of the state can only be maintained by divine intervention or by a combination of virtù and fortuna . It is on this basis that virtù, as outlined above, is necessary for any kingdom to have happiness. Reference of a happy state is made when Machiavelli discusses ecclesiastical principalities. Through the statement “ These are the only principalities that are secure and happy ”,(The Prince 24). Machiavelli is making reference to principalities that are governed “ by divine powers to which the human mind can’t reach ” (The prince 24). In the very same page, Machiavelli argues that a state, which does not fall under the definition of an ecclesiastical principality must be governed through a combination of virtù and fortuna. When the prince utilizes virtù and the fate grants the prince fortuna, which can be defined as good fortune, the state will be stable and prosperous, and the people will be happy.
Conclusion
It is definitively evident from the totality of the above that Machiavelli’s virtù is positive advice meant to establish a stable, flourishing and happy state as opposed to bad advice meant to foster tyranny. Machiavelli understood that leadership is essential to the stability and happiness of a state and in his days, leadership and the leader were intertwined. The concept of a prince in Machiavelli’s the prince cannot be equated with the concept of a president today but rather with the concept or government or the presidency. Chaos would ensue if any state on earth lost its government even for a few hours. It is to protect the state, not the prince that Machiavelli advocates for virtù. A careful evaluation of virtù as defined above will reveal that it is all about the choice between taking the easy path or the right path when the state is in crisis. Machiavelli’s argues that the prince must be willing to make personal sacrifices including that of the desire to be loved so as to make the right choices. As an aftermath of the right choices, the state is stable and eventually, happy.
