Akademik

(1469–1527)

Florentine political philosopher, and a major presence in subsequent political philosophy. His works Il Principe (1512/13, first trs. in its entirety as The Prince, 1640, although excerpts circulated much earlier) and the Discorsi (c. 1516, trs. as Discourses ) brought a new realism into the study of politics. Machiavelli's shocking contention was that although the Prince or ruler was supposed to be an embodiment of virtue and honour, yet given the way of the world, the successful ruler is only the one who acts effectively without regard to the conventional morality of actions. By seeing political organizations as organic entities subject to their own laws of development, flourishing and disintegrating in ways that owe nothing to an independent moral order, Machiavelli may also be regarded as the first sociologist.