The Prince and The Discourses

Although many of the same ideas are contained in both The Prince and the Discourses, these two works differ significantly in emphasis because they discuss two different types of political systems. The Prince, is one of the first examinations of politics and science from a purely scientific and rational perspective. In The Prince, Machiavelli was concerned with a principality, a state in which one ruler or a small elite governs a mass of subjects who …

…foreseen or fully controlled. Therefore, political life cannot be governed by a single set of moral (or religious) absolutes, and the political agent may sometimes be excused for performing acts of violence and deception that would be ethically indefensible in private life. Partly because Machiavelli's subtle and ironic view of the relationship between ethics and politics has been widely misinterpreted, Machiavelli is sometimes perceived as one who manipulates others in an opportunistic and deceptive manner.