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The ends justify the means. It\u2019s better to be feared than loved. Politics have no relation to morals.\xa0\nThese are just a few of the maxims the Italian writer Niccolo Machiavelli is well known for. The cynical and duplicitous advice he offered in 'The Prince' has made Machiavelli\u2019s name synonymous with manipulative self-interest and deceitful plays for power.\nBut what if Machiavelli wrote 'The Prince' not as sincere advice for would-be leaders, but as a work of irony and satire that\u2019s meant to shine a light on the futility of manipulative deception and the need for leaders of virtue.\xa0\nThat\u2019s the argument my guest makes in her book 'Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli in His World.' Her name is Erica Benner and she\u2019s a professor of political philosophy. Today on the show, Erica and I discuss why Machiavelli is misunderstood and what he actually was trying to accomplish with his writing. Instead of being an advisor for tyrants, Erica argues that Machiavelli was an impassioned supporter of republicanism and spent his life trying to foster republican virtue in Florence. And she argues that if you look at Machiavelli\u2019s life and all of his writing, you\u2019ll find a man who didn\u2019t think politics had no relation to morals, but rather firmly believed the only way for free republics to last for centuries was to develop citizens and leaders of virtue.\xa0\nYou\u2019re not going to read 'The Prince' the same way after listening to this episode.