Hobbes Theory of the Nature of Humans - 2245 Words

Socrates and Machiavelli both aspire to the same end of accomplishing certain political goals. Machiavelli, in the Prince, speaks of his desire to end political conflict through the institution of order while Socrates, as described by Plato, seemingly wishes for the government of his time to be replaced with a more just system. Though the two historical figures are both very relevant to the concepts of power and how to attain it, they are polar opposites when it comes to the means by which they hope to accomplish their personal ends. In The Prince, Machiavelli gives an essential guide of how a Prince must appear and how he must interact with his subject in order to make sure that they are complacent and subordinate. On the other hand,†¦show more content†¦On the other hand, the perfect prince is more observant and more aware than the gadfly, which would play to his benefit. That said, a perfect prince ought not avoid a mediocre gadfly (imagine that!) because he (the pri nce) is wiser are more clever. On the other hand, an imperfect prince does not have the tools nor intelligence to evade a gadfly, and will thus necessarily be revealed. On the other a prince may be able to mitigate the impact of a gadfly. To start, people give much more credence to a prince than they give to any old man wandering the street badgering people with questions. Secondly, the prince could mitigate the gadfly problem by denying the gadfly access. If the gadfly does not have access to the prince, there is no way for the revelations to be made and thus the prince will be able to maintain his power unquestioned. The only way that the gadfly in the real world could have an effect is if he can get access to the prince, find the contradictions (defeat the prince’s master ability of deception), publicize them to the people, and in the end have the credibility to be taken seriously. In conclusion, though both the Machiavellian Prince and the Socratic Gadfly have the intention of accomplishing certain political ends, the means by which they seek the accomplish those ends is completely different.Show MoreRelatedComparing Thomas Hobbes and Augustine Essay878 Words   |  4 Pagesstate of nature is a condition of constant war, which rational and self-motivated people want to end. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Augustine argues that peace is more than the absence of hostilities - it is a state of harmony that makes possible the full functioning of human beings. Full functioning comes from the four internal virtues (courage, justice, temperance, and prudence) that we must exercise to achieve good human morality. Human morality, by and of its self, will not allow us humans to travelRead MoreThomas Hobbes State of Nature in Leviathan Essay847 Words   |  4 Pagesdeemed paramount. 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