POLS 2900 Lecture 3: Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli
11 Jan 2019
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Plato: politics is bad and it gets in the way of things; philosophy should rule: creates the city of words. Aristotle: we are political animals and we realize our own potentiality when we live as a part of a political state: everyone eligible should participate in politics. His answer: it depends : not everything always works in every situation; solutions vary by situation. Machiavelli is in a strictly christian society who wants to save their own souls: don"t lie, don"t cheat, don"t kill, etc. inflexibly. He wants to oppose christianity basically because it does not provide the flexibility that the political world requires. Better to be feared than to be loved (but best to be both) If the philosopher-king is going to re-enter the cave, he better know how to speak the language of the shadows. New ideas: pr, putting a spin on it, etc.
