MACHIAVELLI AND HIS IDEA OF MORALITY IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS- INTERPRETATIONS OF THE PRINCE AND DISCOURSES

Writing on Machiavelli is not an easy task and writing on the idea of morality in The Prince and Discourses is even more difficult. Writing on someone whose name is equivalent to murder, treachery, cunningness, slyness, immoral, and evil becomes a tough task. How can we find an idea of morality in the writing of someone who is considered a the teacher of evil (Strauss 1957, 1978), advisor to commit murder (Tarlton 2002), The Prince a handbook for gangsters (Russell), advocate of imperialism (Hornqvist 2004) and many more horrific adjectives related with his name? This paper will try to answer the following questions in Machiavelli‘s writings What is morality? What is the basis on which an act is considered moral and immoral and how does he define an act as moral or immoral? What are the key interpretations of Machiavelli's texts?