Free Will and Dependence of Historical Events
Machiavelli replaced the medieval concept of divine omnipotence with objective historical necessity, which he called fate. In the historical process, he assigns a prominent place to the free will of the individual and aims for people to participate creatively in politics actively. So, in his opinion, the story depends on two factors. He called the first one “fortune,” meaning by this not the blind force of fate but the natural course of events, and their causal relationship, the second factor he called “virtu” (will, talent, energy). Thus, Machiavelli raised the question of the historical and political process laws and the need for both objective conditions and the role of the human factor, participants in political activity.
Human nature is the same in all states and among all peoples; interest is the most common cause of human actions, from which their relationships, institutions, and history are formed. To manage people, you need to know the reasons for their actions, aspirations, and interests. The structure of the State and its activities should be based on the study of human nature, psychology, and drives. Nature has created people so that they can desire everything, but they cannot achieve everything (Niccolò, 1513). Because of this, people are restless, ambitious, suspicious, and never satisfied with their share. Therefore, in politics, one should always count on the worst and not the excellent and ideal.
Historical events in all their forms directly depend on the individual and the strength of circumstances. However, according to Machiavelli’s concept, a strong personality can resist coincidences. Careful consideration of the circumstances and the ability to change policy following the situation can ensure the success of the rulers. The choice of a goal by a particular person depends on circumstances, not on morality. Therefore, the plan aligned with the means and the means with the events and results.
Class Conflict and Successful Government
Machiavelli saw the roots of class conflict as the origin of human society, a form of political communication of people in the broad sense of the word, as an exchange of information, and as perception and interaction. Machiavelli argues that at the beginning of time, when there were few inhabitants of the earth, they lived scattered around the world, like animals. For the best protection and interaction, people started to choose leaders of their kind, more robust and braver, and obeyed them.
Since that time, people have had a sense of the difference between good and decent deeds on the one hand and harmful and criminal deeds on the other. When any of the group members caused damage to their benefactor, the members of the group had hatred and compassion, hatred for the offending person, and respect for the one who showed gratitude. Believing that such an offense was inflicted on them, people, to avoid such evil, came to establish laws and punish violators, from which the concept of justice came.
Machiavelli considers conflict to be a good thing if there is a good goal in the State, to achieve the common good. During the period of conflict, the State can move to wiser legislation that preserves civil freedom. The conflict between the two classes, the nobility, and the people, is not antagonistic but, on the contrary, a compromise. Machiavelli cites the conflict between the people and the elite in Rome as a good example. When the common danger, in the face of the tyranny of the Tranquilness, disappeared, then the fear of tyranny disappeared, which united the people and the senate and did not allow them to create arbitrariness against each other. A conflict began between the nobility and the plebs, as no legislation and institutions would regulate relations between them without the tsar. The fear of the return of tyranny and the inability to live in the old way forced the creation of a tribunate in the Roman Republic to regulate relations between the nobility and the plebs. Class conflict is a natural manifestation of human nature, his desire to live in a better social environment.
Reference
Machiavelli, N (1513). The Prince (J. Bennet, T.) [PDF document].