Can a person use any means, even immoral ones, to achieve a goal if the goal is nobel? Are ethics and effectiveness separate? Introduce viewers to Niccolò Machiavelli's ideas about virtu, necessita, and fortuna with a short, animated video that summarizes key concepts from The Prince.

Concepts

niccolo machiavelli, the prince

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Have class members debate Machiavelli's central premise using evidence from recent political situations
• For those who wish to lean more about Machiavelli's ideas, suggest reading his Discourses on Livy

Classroom Considerations

• A complete analysis of The Prince is available on the publisher's website; a membership is required to access the materials

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• The animated video succinctly summarizes Machiavelli's key ideas

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.3 SL.11-12.3