He says that it is generally better to be frugal because lavish spending will lead to jealousy. It will also lead to higher taxes, and will make the prince unpopular. Machiavelli believes that it is important for the prince to be cruel. It is important for him to punish appropriately in order to have the respect from his citizens and his army. On the issue of admiration Machiavelli states that a prince ideally should be loved and feared, but it is more important that he be feared.
Like Thoreau, Dr. King feels that there is an innate good in all people, and knows that the collective cannot idly sit by while their compatriots are done an injustice. At the exact same time, however, Dr. King is aware of the effects of psychological deindividuation found in group settings when he acknowledges that “groups tend to be more immoral than individuals” ( 12). This statement is more an attack on the white oppressors than anything else. Through deindividuation, Dr. King reduces his opponents to faceless masses incapable of thinking for themselves, but rather are subject to the mob mentality. Dr. King recognizes that this is a potential flaw in collective action, but the justice pursued by his movement prevents his collective from such ill effects.
The state is corrupt and corrupting. Bakunin believed ‘there is nothing more dangerous for a man’s morality than the habit of commanding’. The state is also destructive. It encourages individuals to fight on their behalf, at the expense of others. As Randolph Bourne put it, ‘war is the health of the state’.
This means that politics places itself above war and modify it to suit its needs, with Clausewitz arguments, it is difficult to think of war as something apart from politics. The Clausewitz's theory underwent a lot of criticism by the end of the Cold War due to the transformational changes that took place in the international system which altered the nature of war (Shaw
Machiavelli’s philosophy about the nature of man is that man as a whole is mostly bad and while retaining a few good qualities will lean towards his own self-interests when all things are equal; “that man has qualities that will bring him either praise or blame”. He also portrays men as selfish and fickle creatures as he writes, “..this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous..”. Hobbes on the other hand, views men in a “state of nature” as being completely self-centered and willing to do anything to get what they want; mankind lives in a dog-eat-dog world where everyone looks after only themselves and has no regard for others. Hobbes describes this self-centered way of life as being "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." He also shows men as incapable of conserving or prolonging their life without living under a ruling body, “augmentation of dominion over men being necessary to a man's conservation, it ought to be allowed him.” It is evident that both Machiavelli and Hobbes’ views of man greatly influence the way they think that man should be controlled.
1. The “classical model of politics” is where there are a number of different correct forms of government, and each form of government can devolve into a dishonest form of government, in which it can, and often times will, become corrupted. Thucydides has been called the father of the school of Political Realism, which basically is the idea that states’ main motivation is the desire for military and economic power, and not ideals and ethics. It is like power politics. Thucydides does not directly support the argument of the “classical model of politics” but his views of Political Realism sort of allude to it.
Othello encountered his obstacles when he could make trustworthy decisions. B. The character traits of Oedipus and Othello allowed their agents of distraction to work successfully. i. Oedipus was selfless and god-fearing ii. Othello was selfish, revengeful, gullible, and jealous C. Oedipus and Othello depended on different forces for success and action leading to a difference in the force behind their downfalls i. Oedipus trusted in the ways of the people and sought after the gods ii.
He goes to say, “At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settle – but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk” (727). Although Montresor is vengeful he doesn’t want to lose anything in the act. For example, he says, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity (727). A big part of the story is made up of Montresor’s vengeance of Fortunato, avoiding impunity, and successfully killing Fortunato. The second characteristic that describes the narrator is that he is observant.
His ideas are deemed “dangerous,” “hare-brained,” and “uncertain” confirming that honour is not confined to valorous fighting. It is thus Hal who emerges as an optimal marriage of courage, intelligence and connection to the people. Encapsulating the best of both societies, Hal earns ‘grace’ and a ‘princely tongue’ as he grows into the archetypal leader England requires. Defeating his nemesis Hotspur in battle, Hotspur’s final words “thy wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh,” which exacerbate his incompetence as he values honour, an intangible concept, above his own livelihood. Contrasting Hotspur’s desolate view of life and humanity, Hal remarks “two stars keep not their motion in one sphere” identifying his values, and leadership superior to that of Hotspurs, as he
He argued that, although man is a reasoning animal, he is led by his desires into immoderate acts. Of the English, Montesquieu wrote that “A people like this, being always in ferment, are more easily conducted by their passions than by reason, which never produced any great effect in the mind of man.” In the realm of politics this is of the greatest consequence as constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go. However, this tendency towards the abuse of power can be moderated by