What "Machiavellian" really means
2,864,549 views | Pazit Cahlon and Alex Gendler • TED-Ed
From Shakespeare's plays to modern TV dramas, the unscrupulous schemer for whom the ends always justify the means has become a familiar character type we love to hate. For centuries, we've had a single word to describe such characters: Machiavellian. But is it possible that we've been using that word wrong this whole time? Pazit Cahlon and Alex Gendler investigate the origins of the term.