You may have heard of “The ends justify the means” or even heard someone say that a person who has morally questionable attitudes is a “Machiavellian” person. But do these characteristics really have anything to do with the thinker Niccolò Machiavelli? In this video, we talk about part of the author’s political thought, highlighting his concepts of “Virtú” and “Fortuna” in relation to the behavior of the “Prince”, the first man in society, founder of the State for Niccolò Machiavelli. We contextualize the thinker’s history so that you can understand the possible reasons that inspired his ideas regarding power. It is very important that you understand the context of both the author’s life and the situation of the city-state where he lived: Florence, in the 15th and 16th centuries. This is because the meaning of Machiavelli’s thought should not be removed from the conditions that History provided him. By not doing so, you have a greater chance of being able to interpret the author in a way that is further removed from common sense, having a greater critical possibility in relation to his political theory. There are several possible interpretations of Machiavelli's theory, and we present one of them here, based on the reference sources cited below. I strongly suggest that you read the texts so that you have a broader view, remembering that the video is no substitute for a good class with a teacher, much less reading the author's writings in full. A big hug and enjoy the video! Bibliography Machiavelli, Nicolau. The Prince (Pocket Voices) . Vozes Publishing. Kindle Edition. Sadek, Maria Tereza. Nicolau Machiavelli: The Citizen Without Fortune, the Intellectual of Virtú. Vol. 1, chap. 2 in The Classics of Politics, by Francisco C. Weffort, 11-50. São Paulo: Editora Ática, 2004. MUSIC ATTRIBUTIONS Angevin 120 loop by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-... Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Bach Cello Suite No 1, G Major, Prelude Cooper Carnell Druken Sailor The Midshipmen Glee Club O Fortuna by the MIT Concert Choir is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License . © The composition is copyrighted in some countries COMPOSER: Carl Orff https://freemusicarchive.org/music/MI... Fortune planto vulnera by the MIT Concert Choir is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License . © The composition is copyrighted in some countries COMPOSER: Carl Orff https://freemusicarchive.org/music/MI... IMAGES Fortuna By Salvator Rosa - Own work, Wmpearl, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... By Hans Sebald Beham - Private collection, Scan by Yellow Lion 2006, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Summary 0:00 - Intro 0:12 - Biography of Niccolò Machiavelli 2:14 - The State for Machiavelli 3:15 - Machiavelli's method 4:23 - Principate and Republic 5:34 - The myth of Fortuna 6:38 - Virtue 7:17 - Handbook of the good ruler 8:57 - Credits