This chapter suggests examining Machiavelli’s texts as evolving inquiries, showing the inconsistencies and developments in his thinking. Machiavelli’s concept of “effectual truth”, found in The Prince, is critical here, extending reality to include beliefs, rumours, and even imaginary phenomena if they produce real effects. This approach does not separate truth from imagination, instead exploring how the imagination influences societal and political stability. Through this, Machiavelli invites readers to understand political reality as shaped by perception, distinguishing his insights from Aristotelian logic, which links truth to correspondence between object and intellect. His method seeks to dismantle ideological biases, promoting a clearer, more grounded understanding of power dynamics and the social imagination that sustains or undermines them.