Reflections on Machiavelli in the Changing Moral Context

The moral nature and ideals of Machiavelli, as portrayed in his work The Prince, have long been discussed and debated. Machiavelli has been characterized to such extremes as to be considered both the embodiment of political treachery and a civic visionary. The focus of this analysis is to investigate the moral considerations of Machiavelli’s model prince and to examine the image that these qualities create. Specifically, the aim is to determine the nature of Machiavelli’s moral framework in light of the concept of moral mutability. The scholarly article examined in conjunction with this investigation is Terence Ball’s “The Picaresque PrinceReflections on Machiavelli and Moral Change.” This article emphasizes apparent connections between Don Quixote’s tragic attempt to reinstate chivalry and Machiavelli’s prince’s ignorant attempt to revive Homeric virtue. Ball compares Machiavelli’s prince to Don Quixote in the sense that “both are alike in failing to recognize the mutability of our moral concepts.” 1 The thesis of the article is that Machiavelli’s model prince is a misguided moralist who attempts to resurrect an archaic heroic code which overlooks the changing nature of human frameworks. Ball supports his thesis with expansive assumptions and analyses drawn from the text of The Prince. First, and most basically, Ball asserts that The Prince is not written as a satire, thus rendering the apparent ignorance of Machiavelli’s prince unintentionally comical. Secondly, Ball analyzes the specifics of Machiavellian worldview concerning morality in order to deduct key premises by which moral action is defined. As his central point, Ball seeks to demonstrate that Machiavelli is unaware of the reality of moral change. Thus, Ball portrays