CHAPTER 17
Machiavelli and Hobbes:
The Prince and the Leviathan
Niccold Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Machiavelli was bom in Florence, Italy on May 3, 1469. His
father was the poorest member of a wealthy and prominent
family. Therefore, his education was informal compared to that
of the elite of his time, but he read voraciously as a youth and as
a result developed some original thinking about political theory.
The Italian city-states of the Renaissance were constantly
involved in competitions and intrigues. Families ruled the cities
through force and cunning; the stability of the Middle Ages gave
way to the new political, social, and moral perspectives. Also,
some of the philosophical givens of the Middle Ages, such as
divine, eternal, and natural law came into question. Machiavelli,
as a child of the Renaissance, formed many of his views as a
result of first hand experiences in government. He rejected the
concept of natural law as a basis for political philosophy, and
developed his philosophy accordingly.
When the Medici family, the rulers of Florence were over
thrown, Machiavelli became secretary to the Second Chancery
in the new republican government. He worked in the govern
ment for fourteen years until the Medici were restored to power
in 1512. With the return of the Medici, Machiavelli was arrested
and jailed. After his release from prison he retired to his farm and
began to write about the thing he loved most—politics. In fact,
the rest of his life was spent yearning to return to a position in
government.
His two major works, The Prince, and Discourses on the First
Ten Books o f Titus Livius, contain a political philosophy which
is more practical than theoretical. Actually, Machiavelli is
called the “Father of Political Science” in that he dealt less with
the “ought” and more with what “is.” He was the first major
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