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Niccol Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy. He started writing The Prince
with the main goal of winning the favor of Lorenzo de'Medici, the then governor of Florence and the person to whom the book is dedicated. Machiavelli wanted to become an advisor within the Florentine government. However, when the book finally came out in 1514 Medici took little notice of it and Machiavelli was subsequently not invited to serve as an official. The book was also treated indifferently by the public at first, but slowly as it spread across Italy it began to be criticized as immoral and evil.
The most revolutionary aspect of The Prince is its tendency to separate politics and ethics. Traditionally, classical political theory linked political law with a higher moral law. However, Machiavelli insisted that political decisions must be made with a view to their outcome through practicality, rather through the consideration of some lofty ideal. He used historical evidence to prove his theories, rather than the methods of earlier thinkers who had attempted to construct ideal or natural states. Machiavelli distinguishes himself on the topic of free will...