Separation of morality and politics
According to the Florentine philosopher and politician Niccolò Machiavelli, the separation of morality and politics is a basic requirement for a stable and strong state. At the same time, a society that follows the laws and customs of the state - and thus acts morally - is indispensable for the prince or the state.
background
Machiavelli grew up at the beginning of the Renaissance and experienced the fragmentation of Italy into many small territories. In addition to strength and stability, the most important goal of the philosopher was to create a united Italy under the direction of a powerful politician, the prince he describes .
The Christian historians of the Middle Ages assumed a divine plan of salvation that would ultimately bring all people together under one state of God , which is precisely what the historians of the Renaissance rejected: Such is the politics of Machiavelli (even if he recognized the benefits of religion for the ruler) special part of human activity that has its own rules and laws.
According to him, the highest purposes are to gain and maintain power, a moral attitude could be a disadvantage here. Machiavelli represented a pessimistic worldview , so people are greedy, deceitful and hypocritical and should not be godly and morally good as in the Christian image of man, since this is in vain according to Machiavelli anyway. In order to make people “good”, you need a strong law afterwards. Against this background, morality in political action is not only superfluous, but also inhibits power.
The principle
The separation of morality and politics does not require the elimination of morality, which should remain in the private sphere, but rather the keeping the public away from morality. Machiavelli was of the opinion that the rules of political action cannot be derived from moral conviction or principles, but only from knowledge of history and concrete political and social conditions and events. Political action is only meaningful in such a conceptual construct if the means are used appropriately.
The prince, as an autocratic ruler, can privately consider an act amoral, but should carry it out if it serves the interests of securing, preserving or the well-being of his state. With the establishment of this philosophy, Machiavelli founded the modern doctrine of the raison d'etat .
The three factors
Machiavelli names the three factors virtù (Eng. “Virtue”, “strength”, “determination”), fortuna (Eng. “Happiness”) and necessità (Eng. “Necessity”, “compulsion”) as the most important factors for a functioning state. For the state of the prince a determined, powerful prince, favorable circumstances and conditions are needed, which force the people to act.
Similar positions
In his work Beyond Good and Evil, the German philosopher Michael Schmidt-Salomon called for a solution to politics and indeed society as a whole from morality , but - unlike Machiavelli - he portrays ethics as necessary for a society capable of survival.
Footnotes
- ↑ Alexander Ulfig (ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli - collected works , Dörflerverlag, Frankfurt am Main, p. 67 ff.
- ↑ a b Alexander Ulfig (ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli - collected works , Dörflerverlag, Frankfurt am Main, p. 18
- ↑ Alexander Ulfig (ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli - collected works , Dörflerverlag, Frankfurt am Main, p. 51 ff.
- ↑ a b c d e Alexander Ulfig (ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli - collected works , Dörflerverlag, Frankfurt am Main, p. 36
- ↑ Alexander Ulfig (ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli - collected works , Dörflerverlag, Frankfurt am Main, p. 19
- ↑ Alexander Ulfig (ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli - collected works , Dörflerverlag, Frankfurt am Main, p. 20
- ↑ Alexander Ulfig (ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli - collected works , Dörflerverlag, Frankfurt am Main, p. 49 f.
- ↑ Michael Schmidt-Salomon: Beyond good and evil - why we are better people without morality , Pando, 2009