Chaos Reading discussion

Before we make him out to be Machievellian, shouldnt we understand him to be quite a pragmatic moralist? The world isnt the way we wish it to be and if we get caught up in elated ideals we can be destroyed by the real forces of the world

Think I'll just.... move this to the author folder?

I love Machiavelli. As a philosopher, his ideas were straightforward, and observably true. And his book is SUCH an easy read. The thing to remember when reading him though is that his primary goal was to be allowed back at court. He's not a 'practice what you preech' sort of phillosopher, he's a 'that's what you want to do? Okay, here's how you do that' sort.

Robert Green's The 48 Laws of Power reminds me of Machiavelli in that it, too, is all about getting people to do what you want, just on a less aggressive, more personal scale. The two of them have similar ideas, though.

I've devoured The Prince several times in my life, but I don't believe I've ever given On Conspiracies a go. Since it's a classic, it should be free to read, but I'm considering splurging for a fancy-looking copy. In any case, I definitely have to get my hands on it!