Machiavelli, Hobbes

by Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Mortimer J. Adler (Editor)

Machiavelli: The Prince
Hobbes: Leviathan, or Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiastical and Civil

Genres: Philosophy, History, Politics, Political Science

283 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

The Prince , book of Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian political theorist, in
1513 describes an indifferent ruler to moral considerations with determination to achieve and to maintain power.

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, a philosopher, musician, and poet, wrote plays. He figured centrally in component of the Renaissance, and people most widely know his realist treatises on the one hand and republicanism of Discourses on Livy .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%...

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Political advice for new leaders. It's fun to try and translate the tips for a 15th century Italian prince to modern day society.

[Darwin Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing that I found objectionable in "The Prince" was Machiavelli's insistence that hypocrisy must be followed and a lie must be told, that everything is "above board" in the making and executing of policy (openness, honesty, fairness, equity, equality, legality, etc.), when, in fact, little can be achieved in operating "above board" (dishonesty, unfairness, inequity, inequality, illegality, etc. are often required to get things done). Getting things done is the ultimate in what a leader must achieve. Otherwise, the rest of Machiavelli's advice to leaders is spot on.

Most of what Hobbes suggests to his readers would not be off-putting to anyone but Catholics or Christian Nationalists, esp. in their view that the state - the Commonwealth - should "bow the knee" to to religious interests. To the contrary, Hobbes' view on this is that religious interests must submit to civil authority, similar to how the Church of England is headed by the Monarch. The American separation of church and state notion arises to a degree from this. Related to this, Hobbes does not warm up to the philosophy-infused theologies of the "Schoolmen" (the Scholastics, such as Anselm of Canterbury; Thomas Aquinas; Duns Scotus; Peter Abelard; and William of Ockham).

[Ron Banister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Critical observations of a much misunderstood archetype.