Summary Of Nicolo Machiavelli's Leviathan

The writings of Nicolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes Although the ideal societies of Machiavelli and Hobbes may have been plausible solutions to political violence in their respective eras, neither man’s ideas translate particularly well to a creating a peaceful society in the present day. In The Leviathan, Hobbes outlines his rationale for creating a society that is ruled by a sovereign (or “Leviathan”) who is given complete power by the people. According to Hobbes, the existence of this all-powerful sovereign prevents sinful human nature from running rampant and destroying peaceful society. Humans naturally find themselves inclined to take action in their own self-interest, regardless of the effects on humanity as a whole. These types of …show more content…
Conceptually, this movie includes a variety of faked reputations and scams all secretly orchestrated by Suzie, whose end goal of is to obtain the millions of dollars from the settlement in the defamation lawsuit that she “accidentally” brought upon herself and her friend Kelly. Suzie hides her true self, a genius and strategic mastermind, behind the image of a poor and unpopular girl. The layers of manipulation in this case are astounding. The image that Suzie initially projects to the outside world is not her true self, nor is the image that she projects to Kelly and Lombardo while they are running their initial scam. By not allowing those around her to know her fully mental capabilities, Suzie maintains a degree of power over them; they do not fully understand all the strings she is pulling in the background and she can use her intelligence to manipulate their responses to all things. Suzie's true intelligence allows her to remain in control throughout the entire movie, even when everyone else around her is none the wiser. It can often seem like she is taking no action, when in reality that is the power of her manipulation of those around …show more content…
Machiavellian rulers are normally seen as even more totalitarian and controlling than Hobbesian style (this probably stems from Machiavelli's idea that one of the best ways to establish a state is by force), which would undoubtedly hinder any efforts to establish a Machiavellian government in any sort of Western context. However, as previously stated, Machiavelli encourages his Prince to use violence and power to establish his rule, meaning that while the Prince might face initial resistance, if he were to squash it quickly, he could be successful despite the initial threats to his power. This sort of show of force would also discourage neighboring nations from interfering in domestic affairs (the Prince has shown them that it is in their self interest to not upset the nation with the strong and powerful army, whereas the nation that has elected a seemingly terrible leader does not wield the same sort of power or cause the same sort of fear). It then follows that if a society ruled by Machiavelli's sort of Prince were established, the use of manipulation and reputation that Machiavelli encouraged could undoubtedly help to maintain peace and calm (just as the similar characteristics that an all-powerful ruler maintains would assist one who ruled in the style of Hobbes's Leviathan). All in all, Machiavelli's tactics of fear are much more effective than any sort of trust or love that an