generally "a wise leader is one willing to do what is considered evil upon the few for the good of the many" and I was wondering if machiavelli was that stupid or if whoever produced that movie was dumb as shit and put the quote out of context.

Yeah he's that stupid, if utilitarianism is considered a "stupid" position that is. The 'greater good' is a pretty dramatic and emotive turn of phrase however.

I personally prefer hedonism, which is a little like utilitarianism but only applied to you. Is it good for me? NO YOU SAY? Then go fuck yourself!!!!

REMEMBER THOUGH: Machiavelli has written thousands of pages of material, so a few quotes from a Jet Li film shouldn't put you off exploring what he's written a little. I mean, the Discourses can be compared to Plato's Republic if you're going for state-based philosophy and exploring what makes a decent/functional "nation". Don't get put off by the fact that in the Prince he suggests fear is better than love - you gots to take the good wit' the bad eh?!!


PS: Good job actually wanting to read some of this shit though man. It's always great to hear of people reading shit in their spare times for enjoyment. My current level of reading is shit like 'GAME OF THRONES' and 'CLASH OF KINGS', so I'm letting the side down a little when it comes to non-lowbrow reading ;_;!!! WOE IS ME

Hedonism is the true way Farren! Stick the course or stay the course...whatever the phrase is!

also remember that machiavelli wrote The Prince to suck up to the Medicci family so there's no telling how much of the book he actually believe or even really cared about. he wrote it mostly for political purposes to gain favor with the rulers of (florence i think??)

It's also apparently theorised that it's a satirical work actually scorning the Mediccis.

Regardless of which it is, it doesn't reduce the level of philosophical commentary contained in it - it's still really interesting.