POL200Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Political Psychology, Meritocracy, Human Nature
Document Summary
Machiavelli - discourses: discourses, livy and rome. Written around the same time as prince (16th century) Discourses can be interpreted as m"s answer to plato"s republic, because m offers us a republic that, acc. to him, really works. For m, if a city like sparta or venice can survive without expanding, it"s because of luck. M prefers ancient rome as a model for modern rome: dedicatory epistle & preface to book 1 - new modern teachings. Same as in the prince, he wrote an intro to frame his work. It"s different though because he wrote it to his two friends, who he describes as having fine ruler qualities, even though they have no kingdom of their own. M compares his friends to hiero of syracuse (remember him from ch. 6) M agrees with ancients: what really makes a ruler worthy = knowledge (i. e. his friends), not just power (i. e. lorenzo medici)
