Machiavelli

Question 1

What are the core ideas of Machiavelli’s The Prince?

Answer 1

1. Only tyrannical means can restore past glories.
2. The principate is necessary.
3. All republics are founded by a single law giver.
4. All will eventually fall into the pit of corruption.

Question 2

What are the 3 Propositions to Machiavelli’s Political Realism?

Answer 2

1. Men are not what they seem; despite their professions of goodness, they are generally wicked and unreliable.
2. Ideal projections –depictions of perfect states, perfect rulers, perfect citizens–are both absurd and harmful.
3. Security – the precondition of all other political goods – often requires actions at variance with traditional biblical morality