Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is a term that emerged in the 16th century for a political theory attributed to Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) , according to which every means is allowed to achieve or maintain political power, regardless of law and morality . Machiavellianism has mostly negative connotations and is used disparagingly. To what extent Machiavelli really represented Machiavellianism is controversial.
Machiavellianism is used as a personality trait in psychology and is also part of the concept of the Dark Triad .
In political theory
Political and practical positions
The political or practical philosophy of Machiavellianism, which sees itself as political realism , represents the view of the respective ruler with the aim of securing his own success
- through unrestricted power, enforced by force ,
- through uncontrolled use of power and
- unlimited power.
His political actions should not be subjected to any moral or ethical criteria. The categories of true and good in action are eliminated or reduced to those of usefulness . Social reference points are only taken into account insofar as they are important for calculating political success. That power and rule is considered to be the “best” or “most suitable” in which the political goal of the ruler is adequately realized. As a general principle, the following applies: The end justifies the means . The principles of Machiavelli, however, are only beneficial if the executive ruler has the necessary strategic thinking. This is directly related to the favor of the moment.
Interpretations
Interpretation of the script Il Principe and its reactions to feudalist rule
Machiavellism, which represents one of Machiavelli's state-theoretical conceptions ( formulated more clearly in his Discorsi ), has developed in various forms in political ideology . Already after the publication of Il Principe ( The Prince ) in 1532 - five years after the death of Machiavelli - his work was branded as the "classic" handbook of tyrannical power politics and its author was heralded as unscrupulous, as he had with his - partly empirical Exactly founded description of political conditions and rulership practices in feudalism caused a disillusionment with the religiously transfigured claims to power of feudal rulers.
The English theater of the Elizabethan era connoted Italy with intrigue and killing of relatives. Marlowe used Machiavelli as a character in The Jew of Malta . Shakespeare brought him to Henry VI. as a catchphrase, which is also noted as the anachronism of the poet. Further evidence for the lexicalization can be found at the end of the epoch in the Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke : deserving not only the secular applause of dashing Machiavelian politicians .
First corrections of Machiavelli's interpretation in the Enlightenment
A different view of these interpretations and a new direction of Machiavelli's works did not emerge until the Age of Enlightenment , although the natural law conception made a frontal attack on feudal absolutism possible. Jean-Jacques Rousseau drew a new Machiavelli picture in the 6th chapter of the 3rd book of his Contrat Social by contrasting it with the “wicked writing” and taking into account the special historical conditions that would have led Machiavelli's patriotic impulses astray . In the comparison of the absolutist Principe , which is interpreted as a fitting satire on the tyranny of the Medici , and the Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio ( treatises on the first ten books of Titus Livius ), the characterization of Machiavelli as a patriot is placed in the foreground compared to his interpretation as the unscrupulous henchman of tyranny , thus creating the basis for a Machiavelli interpretation corresponding to the historical situation.
The views of Herder, von Rankes and in Prussian historiography
The position of Johann Gottfried Herder , which he fixes in his letters on the advancement of humanity , continues this line of thought. Conservative Prussian historiography - above all Leopold von Ranke - cultivated, in clear pursuit of their declared nationalism and the justification of political immorality, a political philosophy or historiography about the power of the Prussian state , which served to justify Bismarck's " blood and iron " policy. The ideologues close to fascism in Italy and Germany, in their unhistorical processing of Machiavelli's legacy, misused his views in order to make the Machiavellian “ state emergency ” permanent and to legitimize fascist power politics (e.g. with Gerhard Ritter , Power State and Politics , 1940).
Recent clarifications of a realistic assessment of Machiavelli's legacy
In the period after the Second World War , the work of the Finnish historian Lauri Huovinen (in: The Image of People in Political Thought Niccolo Machiavelli , 1951) made a major contribution to promoting a realistic interpretation of Machiavelli and a clarification of the ideologically complex phenomenon of Machiavellism . The democratic and republican trains of thought, the national aspirations and the perceptions of the political and moral education of the citizens in a functioning political culture oriented towards the welfare of the entirety of a state, as well as the unmistakable loyalty to the people of Machiavelli's considerations are to be emphasized as a progressive historical legacy the distortions and misinterpretations that his work experienced by the representatives of Machiavellianism. In 2000, Dirk Hoeges showed in his work how Machiavelli portrayed his power as an illusion in his famous book “Der Fürst”. Already in Machiavelli's time, the aesthetic of power was conveyed in politics via the media .
Basic requirements of Machiavellianism (based on the principles of Niccolò Machiavelli)
Machiavelli based his work Il Principe on a certain anthropological pessimism. He characterizes the person with eternal dissatisfaction, excess, greed and insatiable ambition. He defines these characteristics as the driving force behind people's actions. He is of the opinion that by making “good” laws one should “educate” patriotic and thus “good” people. In addition, through his characterization of the human being (above-mentioned characteristics) he refers to the slyness of the individual and thus comes to the conclusion that if the human society is in itself "bad", its ruler does not have to follow any moral values.
In psychology
Machiavellianism is also understood as a personality trait based on the characteristics outlined in the work Il Principe . This is determined by four facets : (1) relatively low affective participation in interpersonal relationships, (2) low attachment to conventional moral concepts (morality), (3) conformity to reality and (4) low ideological attachment. The operationalization goes back to Christie and Geis 1970. Machiavellianism is also a characteristic or a type of the so-called dark triad .
literature
- Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: The Prince . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-004350-0 .
- Dirk Hoeges : Niccoló Machiavelli: La vita di Castruccio Castracani / The life of Castruccio Castracanis from Lucca . Italian German. Translated and with an essay on the aesthetics of power edited by Dirk Hoeges, CH Beck, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-406-43357-X .
- Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. The power and appearance , CH Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-45864-5 .
- Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Poet poeta. With all poems, German / Italian. Con tutte le poesie, tedesco / italiano , series: Dialoghi / Dialogues : Literature and Culture of Italy and France, Volume 10, Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt / M. u. a. 2006, ISBN 3-631-54669-6 .
- Herfried Münkler : Machiavelli. The justification of political thought in modern times from the crisis of the Florence Republic , Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-596-27342-0 .
- Erwin Faul : '' Modern Machiavellism '', Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1961.
See also
Web links
- Felix Gilbert: Macchiavelism , in: Dictionary of the History of Ideas
- Michael Stürmer : Learning to lie with Niccolo Macchiavelli. In: Deutschlandradio Kultur , November 12, 2006.
- Dirk Hoeges on his book Niccolò Machiavelli. Poet - Poeta Conversation with Heiner Wittmann
Individual evidence
- ↑ Machiavelli: The Prince: Contents. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Burke, Edmund: Reflections on the Revolution in France, Oxford University Press 1999, p. 10.
- ↑ Machiavellianism in DORSCH Lexicon of Psychology
- ↑ Christie, R. & Geis, FL (Eds.). (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.
- ↑ Heidrun Schüler-Lubienetzki, Ulf Lubienetzki: Difficult people at work Springer Verlag 2015, p. 39 f.