From Shakespeare's plays to modern TV dramas,
从莎士比亚的戏剧到现代电视剧，
the unscrupulous schemer for whom the ends always justify the means has become a familiar character type we love to hate.
总是用最终目的来为其行为辩解的无耻阴谋家，已经成为我们既爱又恨的熟悉的角色类型。
So familiar, in fact, that for centuries we've had a single word to describe such characters: Machiavellian.
事实上，我们对其如此熟悉，以至于几世纪以来我们都用一个词来描述这样的人物：马基雅维利主义者。
But is it possible that we've been using that word wrong this whole time?
但我们有没有可能一直用错这个词？
The early 16th century statesman Niccoló Machiavelli wrote many works of history, philosophy, and drama.
16世纪初的政治家尼科尔·马基雅维利写过许多历史、哲学和戏剧作品。
But his lasting notoriety comes from a brief political essay known as The Prince,
但他持久的声誉来自一篇被称为《王子》的简短政治文章，
framed as advice to current and future monarchs.
这篇文章包含对当前和未来君主的建议。
Machiavelli wasn't the first to do this
马基雅维利不是第一个这样做的人，
in fact there was an entire tradition of works known as "mirrors for princes" going back to antiquity.
事实上，有一个完整的作品体系，被称为“王子的镜子”，可以追溯到远古。
But unlike his predecessors, Machiavelli didn't try to describe an ideal government or exhort his audience to rule justly and virtuously.
但与他的前任不同，马基雅维利没有试图描述一个理想的政府或者劝诫他的听众公正而有道德地统治。
Instead, he focused on the question of power -- how to acquire it, and how to keep it.
相反，他专注于权力问题--如何获得它，如何维持它。
And in the decades after it was published, The Prince gained a diabolical reputation.
在《王子》出版后的几十年里，这本书收获了糟糕的名声。
During the European Wars of Religion,
在欧洲宗教战争期间，
both Catholics and Protestants blamed Machiavelli for inspiring acts of violence and tyranny committed by their opponents.
天主教徒和新教徒都指责马基雅维利，因为他给他们对手的暴力和暴政提供了灵感。
By the end of the century, Shakespeare was using "Machiavel" to denote an amoral opportunist,
世纪末，莎士比亚用“马基雅维尔”来表示一个不道德的机会主义者，
leading directly to our popular use of "Machiavellian" as a synonym for manipulative villainy.
直接导致我们对“马基雅维利主义者”的广泛使用作为操纵性恶行的同义词。
At first glance, The Prince's reputation as a manual for tyranny seems well-deserved.
乍一看，《王子》作为暴政指南的名声似乎是应得的。
Throughout, Machiavelli appears entirely unconcerned with morality,
总的来说，马基雅维利似乎完全不关心道德，
except insofar as it's helpful or harmful to maintaining power.
除非对维持权力有益或有害。
For instance, princes are told to consider all the atrocities necessary to seize power,
例如，王子们被告知要考虑所有必要的暴行来夺取政权，
and to commit them in a single stroke to ensure future stability.
然后一次性的实施暴行以确保未来的稳定。

Attacking neighboring territories and oppressing religious minorities are mentioned as effective ways of occupying the public.
攻击邻国领土和压迫宗教少数民族被认为是占领公众的有效途径。
Regarding a prince's personal behavior,
关于王子的个人行为，
Machiavelli advises keeping up the appearance of virtues such as honesty or generosity
马基雅维利建议保持美德的外表，比如诚实或慷慨，
but being ready to abandon them as soon as one's interests are threatened.
但一旦利益受到威胁，就要准备放弃它们。
Most famously, he notes that for a ruler, "it is much safer to be feared than loved."
最著名的是，他指出，作为一个统治者，“让人害怕比让人爱戴更安全。”
The tract even ends with an appeal to Lorenzo de' Medici,
这一段甚至以对洛伦佐·德·梅迪奇的陈词结尾，
the recently installed ruler of Florence, urging him to unite the fragmented city-states of Italy under his rule.
最近才成为佛罗伦萨的统治者，敦促他在自己的统治下把支离破碎的意大利城邦联合起来。
Many have justified Machiavelli as motivated by unsentimental realism
许多人认为马基雅维利是受非感性的现实主义
and a desire for peace in an Italy torn by internal and external conflict.
以及在一个被内外冲突所撕裂的意大利寻求和平的愿望所鼓动。
According to this view, Machiavelli was the first to understand a difficult truth:
根据这个观点，马基雅维利是第一个了解艰难的真相的人：
the greater good of political stability is worth whatever unsavory tactics are needed to attain it.
政治稳定的更大好处值得采取任何令人讨厌的策略来实现它。
The philosopher Isaiah Berlin suggested that rather than being amoral,
哲学家以赛亚·柏林认为，与其说是非道德的，
The Prince hearkens back to ancient Greek morality,
《王子》贯穿了古希腊的道德观，
placing the glory of the state above the Christian ideal of individual salvation.
把国家的荣耀放在基督个人拯救的理想之上。
But what we know about Machiavelli might not fit this picture.
但我们对马基雅维利的了解可能与这种观点相左。
The author had served in his native Florence for 14 years as a diplomat,
作者在他的家乡佛罗伦萨当了14年外交官，
staunchly defending its elected republican government against would-be monarchs.
坚定捍卫其民选共和政府，反对未来的君主制。
When the Medici family seized power, he not only lost his position, but was even tortured and banished.
当美第奇家族夺取政权时，他不仅失去了职位，甚至被折磨和流放。
With this in mind, it's possible to read the pamphlet he wrote from exile not as a defense of princely rule,
考虑到这一点，有可能读他从流亡国外写的小册子不是为了捍卫君主统治，
but a scathing description of how it operates.
而是对其运作方式的尖锐描述。
Indeed, Enlightenment figures like Spinoza saw it as warning free citizens of the various ways
事实上，像斯宾诺莎这样的启蒙式人物把《王子》看作是警告自由公民
in which they can be subjugated by aspiring rulers.
他们可能会以各种各样的方式被有抱负的统治者征服。
In fact, both readings might be true.
事实上，两个说法都可能是真的。
Machiavelli may have written a manual for tyrannical rulers,
马基雅维利可能为暴君写了一本手册，
but by sharing it, he also revealed the cards to those who would be ruled.
但通过分享，他也向那些将被统治的人透露了这些东西。
In doing so, he revolutionized political philosophy, laying the foundations for Hobbes and future thinkers
这样做，他彻底改变了政治哲学，为霍布斯和未来思想家奠定基础，
to study human affairs based on their concrete realities rather than preconceived ideals.
从人的具体实际出发研究人的事务而不是基于先入为主的理想。
Through his brutal and shocking honesty, Machiavelli sought to shatter popular delusions about what power really entails.
通过他残酷而令人震惊的诚实，马基雅维利试图粉碎大众对权力真正赋予了什么的幻想。
And as he wrote to a friend shortly before his death,
他死前不久给一个朋友写信，
he hoped that people would "learn the way to Hell in order to flee from it."
他希望人们能“学会下地狱的方法，以便逃离地狱”。