Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Republic By Plato And The Prince By Machiavelli

Although written nearly two centuries apart, The Republic by Plato and The Prince by Machiavelli offer important views on political philosophies of rulers. Plato writes of a perfect society where status as ruler is naturally selected through innate abilities. These abilities are used to sustain the society, better it, and preserve it. Machiavelli writes of a society where anyone can be a prince; which for our purposes is a synonym for ruler, if they follow his instructions. These instructions are to ensure a new ruler can take control of new lands and maintain order in them for the sake of conquering and expanding power. Plato suggests the entirety of everything a ruler does is for the advantage of the ruled. He does so in an analogy between the ruler of a society and the pilot of a ship. He writes, â€Å"the ruler will consider or command the benefit not of the pilot, but of the man who is a sailor and is ruled (Plato 21). In putting the society before himself, he tells everyone what is known as the Noble Lie. In it, he claims that everyone in the city belongs to the city because they were born there and that there is a divine sanction to their natural hierarchy. This promotes an expectation of loyalty and keeps everyone satisfied with their standings in life within their trades. Through the Noble Lie, the ruler serves the city by ensuring order continues and that everyone is committed to the continued success of the city. According to Plato, a perfect society would contain aShow MoreRelatedComparsion of Realism and Idealism in Niccolo Machiavelli ´s The Prince and Socrates ´ Plato ´s Republic1101 Words   |  5 PagesNiccolà ² Machiavelli from The Prince and Socrates, from Plato’s Republic, there is no way to avoid the clash between realism and idealism. The contrasting of both of these states of minds, when it comes to ruling a city, per se, is fascinating because, while they are extremely different, they’re perceiving the same objective: ruling a civilization successfully. Machiavelli uses the concepts of virtà ¹, fortuna, and free-will to describe political success. On the other hand, in The Republic of Plato, SocratesRead MoreMachiavelli Plato Rebuplic Prince Comparison1419 Words   |  6 PagesHaà ¾im Cihan Demirkà ¶prà ¼là ¼, 20303433 Essay Question: Compare the Characteristics of the true guardians, as described by Plato (Republic, bk VII, pp.158 #8211; 61, 484b #8211; 487e) with the characteristics of the rulers, as described by Machiavelli (The Prince, ch.15, pp. 47 #8211; 49 and ch. 18, pp.54f). What is the most important difference between the two accounts? In your view, which account is better, and why? 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Plato’s object was the creation of a utopian society--a civilization that abhorred war and centered itself uponRead MoreMachiavellis The Prince And Plato1417 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Machiavelli wrote The Prince to serve as a handbook for rulers, and he claims explicitly throughout the work that he is not interested in talking about the ideal republics or imaginary utopias, as many of his predecessors had done† (Harrison). There is an ongoing debate about which philosopher’s ideas are most correct on the subject of leadership. Two main philosophers come to mind when thinking of this topic and they are Machiavelli with his book The Prince and Plato’s dialogue The Republic. TheRead More Machiavelli And Plato Essay1564 Words   |  7 Pages Niccolio Machiavelli (Born May 3rd, 1469 amp;#8211; 1527 Florence, Italy.) His writings have been the source of dispute amongst scholars due to the ambiguity of his analogy of the amp;#8216;Nature of Politics; and the implication of morality. The Prince, has been criticised due to itamp;#8217;s seemingly amoral political suggestiveness, however after further scrutiny of other works such as The Discourses, one can argue that it was Machiavelliamp;#8217;s intention to infact imply a positive

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