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The Prince vs. the Republic. Machiavelli's criticism of Plato's The Republic
states that a ruler who possesses an inherent quality ...
Plato vs Machiavelli. ... that there should be a standing army to defend the republic
but that ... Machiavelli, on the other hand, wrote the Prince as a guide book for ...
... Machiavelli vs Islamic Political Thought Niccolo Machiavelli was a ... based on how much
the prince affected the ... preferred form of government was the republic. ...
Machiavelli vs. ... Being established in rank, and having decided to become prince and
to keep ... if he had had to deliberate things pertinent to the republic; and at ...
Jihad Vs. ... 1 book, and Prince's Diamonds and Pearls as the No. ... from the Soviet Union
but a Bessarabian Ukraine independent from the Ukrainian republic; not just ...
Submitted by birkdale2 on April 17, 2007
Category: Philosophy
Words: 1001 | Pages: 5
Views: 219
Popularity Rank: 55,443
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Machiavelli's criticism of Plato's The Republic states that a ruler who possesses an inherent quality of that which is consistently good will never have the authority to rule his or her people successfully. If a ruler always treats his subjects in a manner, which can be qualified as good, then he will ultimately meet his demise, as his subjects will rise against him. Machiavelli claims that it is unrealistic to assume that all the people of a kingdom will conduct themselves in a manner that will be consistent with the ruling of a "good" leader. Such republics or principalities do not exist in reality and are entirely hypothetical situations.
Plato treats his republic as a means of demonstrating that there is a certain way for all people in a state to live peacefully if they are trained to possess an inherent good. However, it is through Machiavelli's more realistic view of human nature that this idea is refuted. An entire state cannot remain good forever, as aspects of human nature will always shine through despite any teachings otherwise. Man will always maintain base desires and needs, which would eventually lead to the demise of an idealistic republic such as Plato's. Machiavelli's view of humanity leads him to set up a far more realistic set of rules for enabling a prince to successfully rule his or her subjects. For example, Machiavelli focuses primarily on the appearance to his or her subjects as a ruler. If a prince appears to be good, but is also in some respects driven by base desires in ruling, then he will possess a level of prowess that will allow him to wield his power in such a way that will lead to a stable kingdom.
For Machiavelli, the prince's knowledge of politics implies a level of deception towards his subjects. It is this deception that leads to a false appearance of goodness in the eyes of the people, which leads to a trust between the two. Once the ruler possesses the trust of the people, he can then control his kingdom in a...
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