权术

权术或称权谋，是君主或者领导人为达目的、而使用的权谋智巧的手段，这种手段往往涉及操纵他人和欺骗，且有时未必正当。中国古代流传至今的帝王术以现代观点多涉刑事犯罪。

所谓的心机与权术息息相关。另外权术常与政治相关，但权术并非政治的核心，权术的使用也未必仅限于狭义的政治领域；此外，权术、心机、算计等，被认为是站在诚信的对立面，如《宋史·徐谊传》就提到徐谊曾上奏说：“上古三代的圣王，他们有的是至高的诚信，而不用权术。因此若把诚信推到最高，就可以让品德达到与天齐平的程度。”

欧美

欧美的权术观主要以意大利文艺复兴时代的思想家马基雅维利为代表，其权术观主要在其巨著《君主论》中，有“实力原则”、“不择手段”、“双重角色”等要点。

马基雅维利提出，君主应该要“狮子般凶猛”与“狐狸般狡猾”，唯有依靠自身的实力，才可解决统治危机。君主如果希望巩固自己的实力，就不要受任何道德准则的束缚，政治无道德，应不择手段去实现自己的目的。君主务必把要负责任的事情委诸他人办理，出错时将责任推卸干净，并把布惠施恩的事情由自己掌管，让臣下感激不尽。此外，君主要使臣下感恩戴德之外，也得要避开谄媚的奸佞小人。

时至今日马基雅维利主义（英语：Machiavellianism），在政治哲学中是一个假想的贬义词。心理学上也有马基雅维利主义。

中国

在中国史上政治界必备的权术，也可以称之为“为人之道”、“驭下之道”、“迎上之道”。

中国的权术观主要以法家代表。法家分“法”（商鞅）、“术”（申不害）、“势”（慎到）三派，三派都有权术成分，而申不害的“术”，即完全是权术。 韩非的《韩非子》一书中，则将三派集大成，尤其韩非的权术观点，也融合了道家思想。

韩非的权术是一种君主“潜御群臣”的策略，分为积极之术（如“任能为官”）和消极之术（如老子“国之利器不可以示人” ，还有故意说反话，“倒言反事”来试探臣下等）。

Machiavellianism (or Machiavellism) is widely defined as the political philosophy of the Italian Renaissance diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli, usually associated with realism in foreign and domestic politics, and with the view that those who lead governments must prioritize the stability of the regime over ethical concerns. There is no scholarly consensus as to the precise nature of Machiavelli's philosophy, or what his intentions were with his works. The word Machiavellianism first appeared in the English language in 1607, due to Machiavelli's popularity, often as a byword for unsavory government politics.

Overview

The Prince

After his exile from political life in 1512, Machiavelli took to a life of writing, which led to the publishing of his most famous work, The Prince. The book would become infamous for its recommendations for absolute rulers to be ready to act in unscrupulous ways, such as resorting to fraud and treachery, elimination of political opponents, and the use of fear as a means of controlling subjects. Machiavelli's view that acquiring a state and maintaining it requires evil means has been noted as the chief theme of the treatise. He has become infamous for this advice, so much so that the adjective Machiavellian would later on describe a type of politics that is "marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith".

Republicanism and other ideas

While Machiavelli has become widely popular for his work on principalities, his other major work, The Discourses on Livy, focused mainly on republican statecraft, and his recommendations for a well ordered republic. Machiavelli noted how free republics have power structures that are better than principalities. He also notes how advantageous a government by a republic could be as opposed to just a single ruler. However, Machiavelli's more controversial statements on politics can also be found even in his other works. For example, Machiavelli notes that sometimes extraordinary means, such as violence, can be used in re-ordering a corrupt city. In one area, he praises Romulus, who murdered his brother and co-ruler in order to have power by himself to found the city of Rome. In a few passages he sometimes explicitly acts as an advisor of tyrants as well.

Some scholars have even asserted that the goal of his ideal republic does not differ greatly from his principality, as both rely on rather ruthless measures for aggrandizement and empire.

In one passage of The Prince, Machiavelli subverts the advice given by Cicero to avoid duplicity and violence, by saying that the prince should "be the fox to avoid the snares, and a lion to overwhelm the wolves". It would become one of Machiavelli's most notable statements.

Because cruelty and deception play such important roles in his politics, it is not unusual for related issues—such as murder and betrayal—to rear their heads with regularity.

Machiavelli's own concept of virtue, which he calls "virtù", is original and is usually seen by scholars as different from the traditional viewpoints of other political philosophers. Virtù can consist of any quality at the moment that helps a ruler maintain his state, even being ready to engage in necessary evil when it is advantageous.

Due to the treatise's controversial analysis on politics, in 1559, the Catholic Church banned The Prince, putting it on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

Machiavelli criticized and rejected the classical biblical and Christian thought as he viewed that it celebrated humility and otherworldly things, and thus it made the Italians of his day "weak and effeminate". While Machiavelli's own religious allegiance has been debated, it is assumed that he had a low regard of contemporary Christianity.