Machiavelli and the Elimination of Self for Politicians

Niccolo Machiavelli, the premier political expert of the renaissance period, in his book, The Prince, outlines the characteristics of the model government figure. In this book, Machiavelli puts into print what had only been verbalized, and then only with great scrutiny and caution. To what lengths should a ruler go to protect his state? Machiavelli would answer: Any lengths that are necessary. Chapter XVIII of The Prince, "How Princes Should Keep Faith," details his opinions on how honest a ruler should be with his people.

Chapter XVIII of The Prince is only two and one-pages in length, but therein it is easily discernable that Machiavelli believes that to be an adequate ruler, one must give up personal morals, for if a situation arises whereby harm would be brought to the people because the "Prince" must not lie and must always be faithful to his word, then everyone in the land suffers. If the "Prince," however, lied, or broke his promise in such a situation, a great many people would benefit, including the "Prince" himself, whose only loss is his personal moral integrity which can be lessened by skillful political game-playing and a mastery of oration.

The main theme of the Chapter XVIII is Machiavelli's idea that evil should be used when necessary for maintaining the state, but used in such a way as to make it seem good. He states, "It is not essential, then, that a Prince should have all the good qualities..., but it is most essential that he should seem to have them
Machiavelli seems to think that a "Prince" must elevate himself from his subjects as human beings. The "Prince" must be neither good, nor evil and have no principles of his own. In fact, the only moral that should be held is a love for your country. In short, the ideal "Prince" must transcend humanity and become one with the state. This is a foolish notion, because although it may be ideal, it is almost impossible to separate from the self, especially by men as earthly bound and materialistic as politicians. Not everyone has the capacity to be Gandhi and this advice will only serve to create more evil politicians in a world already dominated by them. Once it is learned what deceit can achieve for the state, surely they will see what it can achieve for themselves personally and they will act accordingly. Gainful deceit is a much too difficult path from which to stray once it has been treaded.