The class of the people in Machiavelli’s political thought : a comparative analysis of The Prince and The Discourses

Abstract

Niccolò Machiavelli’s rather notorious, and undeserving, reputation preceded him before I had even properly ventured into philosophy. I had heard, too, of The Prince and it was one of the first philosophy books I bought. Throughout several readings of the book, and various university lectures, it soon became clear that he was a much more complex man than history gives him credit for. It felt only right then, to focus my dissertation on him and, furthermore, delve into the kind of person he might have been. Comparing The Prince to The Discourses was a natural step given their (initial) opposing natures. My focus was to see what I could take away from the books that could lead to an idea of who Machiavelli was. The way I chose to go about this was by analysing the three classes of citizens that he discussed in great detail. These are the elites, the people, and the military. I compared what was written in both works in the hopes of seeing if there lay some common element between the two. I would first like to thank my supervisor, Professor Claude Mangion, for his advice and steering me in the right direction. Secondly, I have to thank my family, including my parents, sister, and grandfather, who were all nothing short of encouraging and supportive. Lastly, I must thank Machiavelli himself for providing me with such fascinating material to read and write about. I hope that another trip to Florence is imminent, this time with my dissertation in my luggage.