Morality and the Renaissance Idea of the State in Machiavelli's "The Prince"

Morality and the Renaissance Idea of the State
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Morality and the Renaissance Idea of the State
According to the book "The Prince," Machiavelli is depicted as having two codes of conduct that need to be followed by two groups in a state. One applies to the general public, who are required to stick to what is depicted as the normal standard of morality (Nederman, 2018). The other applies to the ruler, the Prince, who had one moral obligation that required him to act in the state's interest. As a result, the Prince or an individual in a position as a ruler is permitted to exceed conventional morality, and this is only allowed if the end goal is to meet his state's interest (Connell, 2016). As the ruler, the Prince used any means to maintain power in a given state. On the other hand, in Jean Bodin's Six Books of the Republic, the main idea is a supreme power, namely, having the ability to make certain laws, and this is done without having an obligation to ask for consent from another party. According to Bodin, this is a power that can be possessed by one ruler or an entire body of citizens. Hence, Bodin is occasionally depicted as strongly believing that sovereignty was not something that could be divided; hence, it had to be in the hands of one person or a group of people. Therefore, Bodin gives the three types of state, and through this, one can tell his perception of the state. The paper will give a detailed discussion of how Machiavelli's The Prince and Jean Bodin's Six Books of the Republic depict the state in terms of morality.
How Machiavelli Portrays the State
According to Machiavelli, the state is deemed supreme, and, as a result, all citizens are required to abide by it. Machiavelli aimed to ensure that Italy, over time, became a strong state. He understood that for this to be attained, human nature had to be kept in check with its selfish innate form. According to Machiavelli, how the two forms of conduct were to be adhered to depends significantly on the position one occupies. The general public people are obligated to understand morality and even follow it. Any form of breaking of the laws was deemed immoral if done by the general public. However, this is not the case for a ruler who has to act in the state's best interest. Hence, although the act done by a rule may, in some incidents, be wrong or evil, as long as it is in the interest of the state, it is regarded as moral. Furthermore, the other objective of this code of conduct was to ensure that the state had the ability to protect the various possessions of its people (Connell, 2016). However, in this case, due to a lack of virtue among the people of Italy, the only option that was left was the adoption of a monarchy. On many occasions, Machiavelli is seen as in favor of a monarchy, and the main cause of this is how the people of Italy behaved.
Additionally, Machiavelli also gives various directions that guide a Prince to ensure one obtains and maintains a strong state (Nederman, 2018). Therefore, the first step is making sure that one has a powerful army, and a ruler should have a tendency to expand and, through this, gain more power. According to Machiavelli, instilli...