Machiavelli vs More
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Machiavelli VS More
The novels Utopia written by Sir Thomas More and The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli both focus on society and the states under which people should live. Each author has their own views about how each society should be established, ruled, and organized. The Prince focuses on a single ruler and a strict, power structured hierarchy, which the prince would rule over. On the contrary, Utopia relies on unity and everyone working together to set up the ‘perfect’ or ‘ideal’ society in which every man is equal.
To begin, Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a handbook on how a prince should rule and how to be successful as a ruler. He uses examples of previous rulers and mistakes or accomplishments they made to voice how he believes a true prince should or should not rule. Machiavelli mentions several times the importance of war in his book, for example, “A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, then war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules…”(p 51) This quote displays how important the element of war is to a prince, so much that he should focus on the art of war so he is able to rule successfully. The book also mentions thoughts about human nature, “… the nature of people is variable , and whilst it is easy to persuade them, it is difficult to fix them in that persuasion . And thus it is necessary to take such measures that, when they believe no longer , it may be possible to believe by force.”(p 20) Machiavelli’s ideals is that humans will believe what they want but when theirs nothing left you can make them believe something and also make it seem as though its their idea to begin with. Life under a machiavellian ruler would be harsh and require a lot to endure.
Nonetheless, More wrote Utopia as a hope for the perfect society, where all people could be equal and war would never be heard of. The key to making everything work was the shared property,...
The novels Utopia written by Sir Thomas More and The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli both focus on society and the states under which people should live. Each author has their own views about how each society should be established, ruled, and organized. The Prince focuses on a single ruler and a strict, power structured hierarchy, which the prince would rule over. On the contrary, Utopia relies on unity and everyone working together to set up the ‘perfect’ or ‘ideal’ society in which every man is equal.
To begin, Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a handbook on how a prince should rule and how to be successful as a ruler. He uses examples of previous rulers and mistakes or accomplishments they made to voice how he believes a true prince should or should not rule. Machiavelli mentions several times the importance of war in his book, for example, “A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, then war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules…”(p 51) This quote displays how important the element of war is to a prince, so much that he should focus on the art of war so he is able to rule successfully. The book also mentions thoughts about human nature, “… the nature of people is variable , and whilst it is easy to persuade them, it is difficult to fix them in that persuasion . And thus it is necessary to take such measures that, when they believe no longer , it may be possible to believe by force.”(p 20) Machiavelli’s ideals is that humans will believe what they want but when theirs nothing left you can make them believe something and also make it seem as though its their idea to begin with. Life under a machiavellian ruler would be harsh and require a lot to endure.
Nonetheless, More wrote Utopia as a hope for the perfect society, where all people could be equal and war would never be heard of. The key to making everything work was the shared property,...