Juliet Glazer

Year 1 Seminar

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Machiavelli Essay

Emotional Distance Between the Prince and the People In The Prince, Machiavelli draws a clear picture of the relationship a prince should have with his people. Inherent in the relationship he describes is the idea that the prince and the people must be emotionally and socially removed from one another. Emotional and social distance creates a lack of empathy. Isaiah Berlins thesis that the political and individual moral realms are entirely separate from one another also describes a need for emotional distance between the government and the people. Is this emotional distance between the government and the governed absolutely necessary? In modern democracies there seems to be less emotional distance than either Machiavelli or Berlin call for. Machiavelli does not explicitly discuss the idea of emotional distance between the prince and the people, but it is inherent in his claim about cunning. For Machiavelli, cunning is the virt that conquers the river of fortun, since cunning finds the best means to an end. For the prince, this makes cunning the essential virt. Machiavelli writes, those princes have accomplished most who knew how to manipulate the minds of men craftily (Machiavelli 47). Manipulation requires emotional distance, since it relies on creating appearances and breaking promises. It would be difficult for the prince to cunningly deceive the people, or to sacrifice them for the desired end if he truly cared about them and empathized with them. The importance Machiavelli gives to cunning implies that emotional distance between the prince and the people is necessary. Despite the importance Machiavelli gives emotional distance, he stresses that princes must not be physically distanced from their people. Living amongst the people is

crucial, particularly for new princes, because they can see troubles getting started (Machiavelli 7). The prince must know his people in order to protect himself and his state against problems and potential uprisings. Emotional distance might make it difficult for the prince to know his people. Machiavelli suggests that living with the people might mitigate such negative effects of the emotional remove that he advocates. In his essay The Question of Machiavelli, Berlin further underscores the need for emotional distance between the prince and the people. Berlin holds that Machiavelli discovered two separate, mutually exclusive moral realms, that of political morality and that of Judeo-Christian or individual morality. Political morality is concerned with finding the best means to accomplish an end, which must be the welfare of the patria, (Berlin 216). Individual morality is more concerned with the means than with the ends. Similar to Kants Categorical Imperative, the intent to be moral is more important to the individual than is the eventual outcome. Political and individual morality cannot be fulfilled simultaneously. Berlin writes, In choosing the life of a statesman, or even the life of a citizen with enough civic sense to want his state to be as successful and splendid as possible, a man commits himself to rejection of Christian behavior (Berlin 222). When the prince and the people live according to two different, autonomous moral realms, they cannot empathize with one another. For the prince to fulfill his own political values, he must ignore the peoples values, precluding his ability to empathize with them. Berlins insistence that the two moral realms are mutually exclusive makes emotional distance between the prince and the people inescapable. However, the existence of democracy proves both Berlin and Machiavelli wrong, and shows that it is possible for there to be less emotional distance between the

government and the people. The word democracy comes from demos, which means bond. Politicians in a democracy must be emotionally close to the people and must empathize with them. According to the Natural Right Theory of the State, states are the means by which to accomplish the individuals end. Modern democracies operate on this precept. If the ultimate telos of political morality is the welfare of the state, and the states telos is to fulfill individual morality, political morality in a modern democracy must be concerned with allowing for the fulfillment of individual morality. Every citizen of a democracy is an individual and must live according to individual morality, but also takes part in the government by voting. This act, however infrequent, requires at least the occasional use of political morality. While the combination of the two moral realms may often be imperfect, it certainly is possible. The two moralities do not have to be autonomous as Berlin claims, but instead can coexist within one individual. They must modify one another, and cooperate with one another. Emotional distance is not inescapable as Berlin suggests, and the existence of democracy illustrates that a society with far less emotional distance between the government and the people is possible. Emotional and social closeness between the government and the people is not only possible but also desirable. Machiavelli stresses the importance of a prince truly knowing his people. Machiavelli writes that this is so a prince can identify problems when they are just beginning, and protect himself and the state. Machiavelli implies that the prince can accomplish this merely by living amongst the people. However, living in close proximity to the people is not enough to ensure true understanding of the people. The prince must truly understand the way the people see the world if he is to foresee and comprehend the problems that may arise and even unseat him. True understanding comes

from empathy. To protect his own interests, the prince must be emotionally close to the people. Emotional distance allows for the decidedly negative aspects of Machiavellism, the idea that extreme means can always be justified by the end. Though Machiavelli never explicitly discusses emotional distance, one of his central ideas is that cunning is necessary, and is the princes ultimate virt. Cunning requires emotional distance. Isaiah Berlin goes even further and claims that political morality and individual morality are entirely separate. For Berlin, emotional distance between the followers of the two moral schemes is inescapable. However, modern democracy modifies the theories of each writer, and proves that less emotional distance between the government and the people is possible. Democracy requires both moral realms to interact and even cooperate with one another, which calls for less emotional distance than Berlin deems necessary. This is a requirement of democracy, because it is based on the bond, or demos, between the government and the people. Machiavelli himself presents a contradiction that suggests less emotional remove is beneficial. He stresses the importance of knowing the people, which requires the ruler to be less emotionally removed from them. Both from the modern world and from Machiavellis own suggestions it becomes clear that Machiavelli and Berlin are not entirely right when they claim the absolute necessity of emotional remove between the prince and the people. Some emotional understanding and empathy is necessary.