Ethical Review of Social Sciences

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025): Ethical Review of Social Sciences
Articles

The Machiavellian Challenge to Business Ethics

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  • George Bragues
George Bragues
University of Guelph-Humber
Bio

Published 09.01.2025

Keywords

  • Machiavelli,
  • Leadership,
  • Virtue,
  • Vice,
  • Image Management,
  • Entrepreneurship
    • ...More
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Copyright (c) 2025 George Bragues (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

The Machiavellian Challenge to Business Ethics. (2025). Ethical Review of Social Sciences, 1(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.70150/2654b605

Abstract

No political philosopher is better known in the business world than Niccolo Machiavelli. His fame resting on The Prince, the Renaissance Italian writer has often been featured in the popular business press, mostly to show the relevance of his realpolitik world-view to the sorts of issues that a contemporary manager is apt to face. However, the popular view of Machiavelli as a hard-headed thinker has been challenged by scholars pointing to his advocacy of republics in the Discourses on Livy, his other great work. Interpreted along these lines, Machiavelli can be invoked to support participatory structures in business along with the cultivation of publicly spirited virtues. We argue that the common perceptions of Machiavelli are actually on a better track. His analysis of republics uncovers weaknesses germane to business that render The Prince more suitable to commercial life. As such, Machiavelli’s overriding point is that in a competitive arena, such as that of modern-day business, individuals holding leadership positions, or aspiring to them, must be prepared to go beyond conventional morality and live by a different and, indeed, icy set of rules. Being good in business, Machiavelli warns, will only lead to personal ruin.

Machiavelli goes further than this, calling for a trans-valuation of values, wherein the praiseworthy quality of leaders are redefined so as to take into account the competitive realities of business. In this new ethic, virtue is connected to acquisitiveness, moral flexibility, image management, and reaches its culmination in the entrepreneurial task of founding a great company.

 

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