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Plato and Niccolo Machiavelli magnificent ideologies for leaders of the world. First Plato’s dialogue Allegory of the Cave described what would happen if prisoners were chained to a wall and could only see the shadows before them. The shadows were visuals on the wall from the fire blazing behind them. Plato stated a quote about what would happen if those prisoners were to be released out of the cave? His reasoning for this was to produce what the human natures method is of gaining knowledge. Then, Niccolo Machiavelli described in The Prince why qualities are essential in succeeding as a prince. He stated that “qualities bring either blame or praise (Machiavelli). Therefore, it is significant to suppress negative qualities and let the positive…
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The understanding of human nature and the effects it has on the individual and society has been a serious topic in the philosophical world. Nicolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes were well known for their crucial roles in forming the foundation of political philosophy. While reading through Machiavelli’s The Prince and Hobbes’ Leviathan, both introduced a common focus on political theory even though living approximately 100 years apart. While learning about these two philosophers and their proposed theories, I noticed an innate relationship in the discussion of society’s human nature. Machiavelli ([1532] 2006) in The Prince theorizes the qualities that a dominant leader should have to gain and maintain power.…
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Contrary to popular belief, Machiavelli is not a diabolic political figure in search of power. He is instead an astute politician who uses his extensive knowledge of politics to analyze various princes and principalities in order to educate future…
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However, Machiavelli, no matter how extreme, violent at times, rigorous, and blunt he may come across, by setting examples and guides structured around the utilization of ruthlessness and egocentric cunning as the process of gaining political power, showed what a clear mind he had on what it takes to be an awe-inspiring leader, master of the art of winning a battle, and conquering lands. In this paper, by comparing the two, human nature and political potency, through the use of different ideologies of both, Plato and Machiavelli, corroborated that they were very powerful, unparalleled influences in the philosophy of human nature and the processes of political power as theorist of their…
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Machiavelli thought human nature was two-dimensional. He saw humans as predictable, foreseeing their responses to the princes’ actions. Because humans are so unsophisticated in Machiavelli’s eye, they can only love or hate their prince, making them unable to see an intermediate to the good and bad in their ruler. Humans’…
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Introduction: Many people who have read The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli were appalled by Machiavelli’s fierce and authorative tone he used to assert his ideas, especially his concept of how the ends justify the means, which slowly made people begin to criticize him and his book as immoral, wicked, and evil. For this reason, Machiavelli began to be insulted as a ruthless and evil person, or in the adopted term, a Machiavellian. Machiavelli didn’t wish to care for morals or spiritual integrity; however, he didn’t arrange to establish the approach to wickedness. As a matter of fact, he argues that the concept the ends justify the means are meant to be followed, but only when necessary commands for it to happen.…
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In his book The Prince, Machiavelli presents a theory asserting that man needs a powerful leader in order to be successful. Machiavelli felt that a Prince must act in a way that guaranteed stability and order. However, his emphasis on political convenience was not in the service of the individual power of a Prince, but in allowing that Prince to do what was necessary for the sake of the people. He argues that as a leader, one has the duty to be dishonest or otherwise deceive its people in times of need. This is further clarified when he addresses the question of whether it is better to be feared or loved.…
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Human nature has been the discussion of many of philosophical works. There are some who believe human beings are inherently bad, individualistic and greedy. There are those who believe humans are inherently good and seek the best possible outcomes for society as a whole. Upon reading Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, and John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government the audience may begin to understand how those ideas of human nature can have an effect on an individual’s political ideology. Machiavelli, Marx, and Locke all expressed in their works how they viewed human nature and gave historical background and evidence of how their opinions of human nature directly affected their political ideology and how…
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Throughout The Prince, Machiavelli outlines the characteristics needed to be a strong and admirable leader. He explains that personal characteristics such as courage and compassion, both being aspects of virtue, will earn him praise. However, he feels that this expectation is unrealistic and a prince’s first job is to protect the state, and having “bad” characteristics is sometimes necessary to reach that goal. That being said, in order to protect the state a prince may have to act unscrupulously at times which he believes will bring good fortune in the long run. Machiavelli believes that no matter how a prince acts, whether moral or not, virtue and fortune are the two most influential forces in politics and he shows how, throughout history, they have affected different people in powerful positions. Using the lessons learned by previous people of great political power, Machiavelli points out virtues and fortunes present in the particular cases, while then explaining his beliefs and solutions to the examples from the past. Virtue and fortune go hand in hand throughout this guide. One…
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More thinks that a king should not have a better life than its people. If a king has a better life than the people then he believes they are not a true king because they would look out for the people and want them to have a better life. More states, “Now if there were any king who was either so despicable of so hateful to his subjects that he could not keep them in subjection otherwise than by ill usage, plundering, and confiscation and by reducing them to beggary, it would surely be better for and him to resign his throne than to keep it by such means” (3). More is describing a tyrant who only thinks of himself when he says the words “despicable” and “hateful”. He believes that a tyrant should not be in power. He believes that the people should not be living a poor life if the ruler is ecstatic with how many items he has. A government should not have a tyrant as a ruler.…
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According to Machiavelli, Nicollo. The Qualities of the Prince. Print. “It is much safer to be feared than to be loved when one of two must be lacking” Machiavelli believe that winning people’s trust through power and influence is the right thing to do so that the leader can exercise his authority and show the people that a leader needs to be feared. Machiavelli doubt the outlook of men, since people choose to look out for their own self rather than others. Machiavelli explains how a prince will become ruined if he constantly strives to be generous and good. This is especially important to politicians and leaders because if they keep trying to be the good guy and making empty promises then they will eventually ruin themselves. Several of Machiavelli’s ideas can also be applied to modern leaders and political figures today. Believing that a prince needs to rule restriction and limitation to protect people in order to survive. Therefore, being cruel and being feared are necessary actions a ruler must take to keep safety and order to his country.…
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Thomas More describes an ideal society and government where people maintain high moral standard and live with ultimate freedom and happiness. In the Utopia, the Utopian government strive to fulfill and optimize the benefits and happiness of Utopian citizens. Reasonably, people would describe a safe and happy government as domestically stable and diplomatically powerful so that it obtains admiration and fear from both its citizens and surrounding countries, thus enabling its citizens to live with freedom and pursue the ultimate happiness. However, although the images of Utopian government are attractive and appealing, Machiavelli would reprimand the existence of this ideal government to be absurd and unrealistic because of its unreasonable equality…
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A big difference in Utopia and the Prince is that Machiavelli believes that the ruler should be evil under all its intent and More wants a ruler who does not always need to strike fear into their citizens. Machiavelli explains that "people are by nature changeable." (The Prince) This quote shows that he believes it is easy to control people and provides his reasoning to write a book on what to do to look and be powerful. Machiavelli makes it important the regular human can be easily swayed when you are being seen as a powerful being. More's world may not be perfect, but it is the closest to an ideal society. The people in the world always act for the benefit of the whole society. They do not think of themselves but rather for the good of all the people so their world may progress.…
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Both St. Augustine and Machiavelli believed that in order to understand the true nature of society you must see men for what they truly were. Augustine and Machiavelli are similar in their pessimistic views toward human nature, looking at human self-love and self-interest and believed it to be full of evil, cruelty, betrayal, violence and tied that relationship into the creation of war. For both philosophers a good society is actually something that for almost all men is an unreachable attribute that can only be written about and not actually fully experienced in my view. For Augustine I feel it is a truly heavenly earth where all men are divine and are as close to the city of Heaven as you can be on earth. For Machiavelli it is a state of complete acceptance of each man’s role and how that role fits into society like a puzzle piece. In order to examine each philosopher’s view further, we must break their thoughts into three separate categories which are: human nature, political authority, and religious beliefs. This essay will take an in-depth look at both St. Augustine and Machiavelli, compare and contrast their views, and provide evidence that on some level the two thinkers were very similar in their ideology.…
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Imagine perfection! A world with no faults, no errors, and no delinquents. A world that lives in peace and harmony, and that never ceases to prove it’s worth every single day. This flawless realm was almost impossible to find or describe in Europe in the early sixteenth century due to all of the corruption that was occurring in the church and in the government. However, from the abyss of this dark world came a man who was ready to challenge these powerful, malicious supremacies; a man named Thomas More. In his book Utopia, More, “the Chancellor of England at the time (Notes),” described the perfect society by observing the world’s wonderful and wicked aspects. Though heavily influenced by his Christian and humanist background,…
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