Comparing Platos Republic Vs. Machiavelli's The Prince

Superior Essays
Plato’s Republic and Machiavelli’s The Prince depict their views of both the duties and the ideal personas that rulers should strive towards. Socrates, in Republic, strives to discover truth in the creation of a hypothetical “perfect city,” in which all citizens are just and fair to each other. His Philosopher King was designed to rule this ideal city, and as such this is a perfect and ideal figure. Having been educated only in the just for his whole life, this Philosopher King is always virtuous, and relies purely on this virtue to be a good ruler for his people. Machiavelli’s Prince is a more morally ambiguous ruler; though he does not look down upon the just, and in fact praises and strives towards it whenever possible, the Prince does not fear committing harsh deeds and ordering unjust acts if he determines that doing so will further the interests and prosperity of his state and his people. He is trained primarily in the art of war, and places the …show more content…
Plato’s Philosopher Kings are raised from birth to be virtuous, and protect the state by ensuring that justice would be considered in the settling of any dispute. Their citizens understand that the ruler will protect them, and they inherently trust him for the morality by which he guides his life. The idealistic leader is a perfect ruler for a just society at peace, as he will always consider the wants of the people and the fairness of his behavior. The Prince may attempt to be moral in his actions, but in a more realist take on the nature of the state, Machiavelli states that virtue should always fall second to war. Actions that seem at their surface to be impossible cruel are justified if they provide safety and security to the people of the state. Stability for the people of the state is always the goal of a ruler, whether by the utmost consideration of morality, or by any means

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Machiavelli’s Prince seeks to recruit and educate a ruler in the art of ruling. His ideal rulers are founders, men who created a fatherland and were not afraid to sacrifice lives and their self-interests for the common good. Machiavelli stresses that a ruler needs to appear virtuous while using vices when necessary to achieve positive results. Machiavelli teaches the ruler to divide his self. “It is essential, therefore, for a Prince […] to have learned how to be other than good, and to use or not use his goodness as necessity requires” (Machiavelli, 40).…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In many political philosopher’s eyes, there is a special relationship between the ideas of moral goodness and legitimate authority. Some of these political philosophers believed that the use of political power was only morally correct if it was exercised under a ruler who had virtuous morals. These rulers who had virtuous morals were then told that in order to be successful, they needed to make decisions in accordance with the standards of ethical goodness. This moralistic view of authority is what Machiavelli criticizes in his work “The Prince.” In Machiavelli’s book, “The Prince,” the readers are introduced to political values that do not necessarily give full recognition to morality or religion.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Niccolò Machiavelli and Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca went through different experiences that led them to have their own perspectives in human nature and create their ideals for good governance. The simple fact that Cabeza de Vaca was unfortunate enough to have a hard time throughout the expedition made him more open minded about human nature, while Machiavelli had a set idea of what human nature was and how it ties to good governance. Machiavelli's view on human nature is the same as what is a good governance a good leader and a good human being is someone who knows how to be respected and feared without being hated and how that leads to have the people the Prince governs happy and on his side. Cabeza de Vaca has a more down to earth view on human nature but that differs…

    • 2016 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although Machiavelli and Socrates both lived during times of uncertainty, political fragmentation and violence, their philosophies about how the state should conduct itself are in direct contrast with one another. Machiavelli’s the Prince is founded on the principal that if a ruler wishes to maintain power, he should embody the ideology of pragmatism, while Socrates believes the state should follow him in his commitment to moral purity and justice. The inherent dissonance between these philosophies would lead Socrates to be unsupportive of Machiavelli’s concept of a prince, and consequently the political system Machiavelli would recommend he install, despite his apparent change in rhetoric from the Apology to the Crito. Throughout Plato’s interpretation…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Machiavelli and Socrates both share a similar background filled with political fragmentation and violence; however, the two philosophers would not see eye to eye on the way the government should be ran. Both men are very different in how the government should be structured and treat its people. Machiavelli’s prince would not be able to rule under the same philosophy of Socrates, and wouldn’t be able to let Socrates live among his people. In no way, would Socrates support Machiavelli’s concept of a prince seeing how it would constrain Socrates, being a gadfly. If Socrates lived under Machiavelli’s view of a prince then Socrates would ultimately be put to death for his contradictory views of a sovereign that interferes with the prince’s absolute…

    • 1779 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Prince, Machiavelli writes on how a prince is to take power and how to maintain his position (Ryan, 2012, p.364). The concept of virtù is introduced, as an essential component that a prince must possess. It could be translated as the ability, quality or determination that secures political success (Ryan, 2012, p.375). Machiavelli finds an example of a virtuous prince in Cesare Borgia, described as a skillful leader who was only defeated by the negative effects of fortuna (Ryan, 2012, p.371). On the other hand, Agathocles is presented as a tyrant, whose form of ruling was dishonorable.…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Socrates Is No Prince Socrates and Machiavelli lived in a time of political and civil disarray and chaos. Their thoughts on political philosophy and theory are a product of the times in which they lived. Through interpretations of their own political climate, Socrates and Machiavelli produced two schools of political thought that are incredibly different and contrasting. Plato’s Apology and Crito and Machiavelii’s The Prince present these two vastly disparate ideologies.…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Overall, Machiavelli advocates that the betterment of the state’s popularity should be the prince’s top priority over doing the right thing. However, he emphasizes that it is crucial…

    • 1534 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Machiavelli’s writing “How a Prince Should Keep His Word”, Machiavelli states that the princes that have kept their word are the ones that do the little and care the less about keeping their promises. Machiavelli then proclaims two means of fighting. A prince may then fight with force or through the animals. A man also must know the nature of fighting between an animal and another man. This action commenced through the ancient writers illogically.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An explanation that is potentially one of the more conventional validations of the relationship between Machiavelli’s The Prince and the Discourses is reading The Prince as a manual for the founder of what would eventually emerge as a republic. Once the prince has established a foundation of the state, the republic that Machiavelli advocates for in the Discourses will become achievable and desirable. The Prince was written to establish a unified state; the republic in the Discourses will maintain that stable and unified state. Academic Leo Strauss explains that Machiavelli wrote the Discourses to promote the imitation of ancient republics. Machiavelli longed for the rebirth of ancient republicanism .…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Machiavelli believed that in order to achieve success in public life, a Prince must know when and how to do what no good person would do. This can be seen when Machiavelli writes, “Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.” This demonstrates his belief that in public life, the only way to measure a ruler’s success was the praise or blame of the citizenry (Prince, 44). Machiavelli’s Prince would not care about public opinion as long as they obtained power through luck or fortune. Machiavelli felt it was better for a Prince to be feared rather than loved, because fear is more permanent.…

    • 1564 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Plato and Machiavelli looked into what is best for people and a government structure that can bring to a better society, happiness, and wealth for everyone. Both Plato and Machiavelli focused on a civil society that would work to secure the rule of law and protecting individual’s freedoms, as well as stability as a whole. They agreed that a government or a ruler would have to work for conditions that will bring prosperity of his citizens and a pleasing and satisfactory way of living. These two philosophers were too realistic in emphasizing a political structure of how government should perform to keep its citizens satisfied overall. Plato, for instance, was expecting an ideal government or a “just’’ society that would promote justice for…

    • 1521 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli’s understanding of virtue and effective rule emphasizes the maintenance of political power and the disregard for morality, differing from the ideology of the classic political philosophers. Machiavelli’s concept of virtue is centered around the glorification of a ruler, facilitated by behavioural traits such as bravery, cleverness, deceptiveness, and ruthlessness. Effective rule requires these attributes, as the successful application of these characteristics towards the acquisition and maintenance of power will allow one to become a powerful leader. Machiavelli first explains the foundations of various principalities, such as hereditary and mixed principalities, as the maintenance of power differs…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The legacies left by Plato and Machiavelli, inspired and profoundly shaped modern governing. Their beliefs and views on how a ruler should run a government, constructed today’s political atmosphere. Despite the differences between Plato and Machiavelli 's visions on an idealistic utopian society, they both necessitate a ruler who possess the highest extent of reason within the tripartite division. However, their contrasting agendas they set for their ideal rulers, forged conflicting definitions of a virtuous society. Conclusively leading to differences in their beliefs on what responsibilities a ruler is entitled to and ultimately, the outcome of their society.…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When is the rule by cruelty necessary, according to Machiavelli? According to Machiavelli, he claims that the prince needs to rule by cruelty, especially in terms of crime and justice. If the prince is generous at all times, including the period of disorder, people will lose trust. With courage and cruelty, the prince should abandon his personal qualities, rule by cruelty, and eliminate all possible crimes and misdeeds for the safety of the country.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays