On May 3, 1469, one of the most controversial but recognizable thinkers of all time was born - the Florentine philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. For many years, born in Renaissance Florence, Machiavelli was an official of the Florentine Republic with diplomatic and military responsibilities. He is the founder of modern political science, and more specifically, of political ethics. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs and poetry. His personal correspondence is a highly valued example of the Italian language.
Machiavelli was secretary of the Second Chancellery of the Republic of Florence (1498-1512), when the Medici were not in power. He wrote his masterpiece – “The Ruler”, after the Medici restored their power and Niccolò no longer had duties and responsibilities in Florence. He is considered the father of the idea of the modern state and the modern ruler.
Machiavelli's writings on political theory have been interpreted controversially in the history of political thought and have been used for opposing political purposes. According to some, he was a true republican who wanted to warn the people about the machinations of the rulers and thereby give instructions for the defense of freedom. For others, he is an advisor to unscrupulous power politicians and one of the theoretical fathers, first of absolutism, and then of tyranny, who destroyed the ethical commitments of classical politics and placed politics only under the maxim of immediate success and long-term increase in power.
In Western and Central Europe in the early Modern period, he was read as the first representative of the theory of the state interest, which pushed out the classical Aristotelian idea of politics, and political theory was oriented towards expanding and guaranteeing the power state characteristic of the Modern period. Around the same time, the representatives of republicanism in the English Revolution and later the founding fathers of the United States considered him a supporter of a political participatory thinking, who with the greatest clarity and exceptional sharpness thought out the basic principles of a republic, the mechanisms for its renewal and the prerequisites for its preservation. The problem with any modern interpretation of Machiavelli is that two opposing perceptions exist side by side, referring either to "The Prince" or to "The Reflections".