Machiavelli’s View of Human Nature Essay - 1696 Words

Machiavelli’s View of Human Nature Simple versions of Machiavelli’s conception of human nature may readily be elicited from The Prince. It is easy to find textual support for claims that appear to presuppose or be equivalent to some version of psychological egoism. He says, for example, that â€Å"men in general †¦ are ungrateful, voluble, dissemblers, anxious to avoid danger, and covetous of gain; as long as you benefit them, they are entirely yours,† but their â€Å"love is held by a chain of obligation which, men being selfish, is broken whenever it serves their purpose.† (Prince, xvii, p. 61) Again, speaking of a prince’s counselors, he says â€Å"[they] will all think of their own interests †¦. for men will always be false †¦ unless they are†¦show more content†¦56) But there are several reasons for trying to look deeper, for suspecting that Machiavelli may mean something other than what appears on the surface.[1] First, though he has clearly thought long and deeply about politics, he nowhere tries to give us a systematic account of human nature. His remarks on the subject are remarks – generally in the form of asides intended to reinforce some other point. He is a careful and intelligent observer of the world around him, but there is nothing to suggest that any of his staements on human nature are meant to be self-sufficient and unqualified by what he has to say elsewhere. Second, he is speaking of a restricted context, the arena of political power and conflict. Nobody, including Machiavelli, thinks that the topics he seeks to address encompass all of human life. Politics may set the terms within which other interests are pursued – but there are other interests and other pursuits. Machiavelli, in short, may no more need a general conception of human nature than the economist needs to ‘believe in’ the existence of Economic Man. An economist need not believe that all people are rational profit maximizers, only that in certain contexts it is useful so to model them. And, along similar lines, Machiavelli might well be construed as modeling the behavior of ‘Political Man,’ rather than expressing any generalShow MoreRelatedMachiavellis View on Human Nature Essay1454 Words   |  6 PagesMachiavelli’s View on Human Nature The author, Niccolà ³ Machiavelli, is different from other humanists in his time, because his view on the nature of man contradicts what most humanists believed. Humanists of that time believed that individuals played an important role to the well-being of the state, and that â€Å"†¦ they also believed in classicism’s basic tenet that human nature is inherently rational and good† (Western Humanities, pg. 343). 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Machiavelli served 14 years as Chancellor of Florence before he was exiled inRead MoreMachiavelli s A Comparison Of Ideals748 Words   |  3 Pagesthe basis of sovereignty. All things considered, government is still a very broad term. Many have spent years philosophizing the different ways the system of government can function as. Two men, specifically, have thought quite a bit about power, human nature, and the ideal way of governing.   Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s political philosophy in  The Social Contract speaks often of freedom. Some of his popular ideas are the general will that expresses the need for said freedom. Government’s creation was for