Machiavelli’s Political Philosophy : A Critical Assessment

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This Article on Machiavelli’s political philosophy is suggested to be read after reading the previous Articles on the thinker.

According to George Sabine, Machiavelli writes about nothing and thinks about nothing except politics, statecraft, and the art of war. For deeper-lying social, economic, religious, or moral questions, he had no interest except as they bore upon politics.

Machiavelli was indifferent to the role religion was to play in the two centuries after his philosophy. In this context, Sabine says that Machiavelli’s philosophy was both narrowly local and narrowly dated.

Sabine further says that Machiavelli’s thoughts emerged in the context of the Italy of his time and had significance to the Italy of his time. Had he belonged to a different time and space, he would have given a different view of human nature and politics. Machiavelli’s pessimistic view of human nature was a result of the moral decay that 16th century Italy was undergoing and his preference for absolute monarchy was to control the then corrupt society. Sabine is suggesting that Machiavelli had a very partial analysis of human nature and his thoughts are of limited significance.

However, it is to be noted that Machiavelli was not alone in developing a pessimistic view of human nature. Thomas Hobbes did the same. Machiavelli’s political absolutism was also further developed by Hobbes.

Machiavelli’s views on statecraft carries similarity with the views of Kautilya, an ancient Indian thinker.

In the real world of politics, it is hard to overlook much of what Machiavelli said. His writings reflected intellectual honesty about political dishonesty and that may make some people uncomfortable. However, political reality continue to reflect Machiavelli’s prophecies.

Sabine himself admitted that Machiavelli, more than any other political thinker, created the meaning that has been attached to the State in modern political usage. For this reason alone, Machiavelli is sometimes regarded as the first modern political thinker.