Prince, the

The Prince is a political treatise by the Italian diplomat, historian and political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli. The Prince is sometimes claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the effective truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. It was also in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning how to consider politics and ethics. The descriptions within The Prince have the general theme of accepting that the aims of princes, such as glory, and indeed survival, can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends. Revised and expanded version with extensive translator commentary. Fully updated and edited to reduce arcane language for ease of reading.