Comparing Socrates And Machiavelli's The Prince

Socrates’ Response to Hobbes’ Leviathan and Machiavelli’s The Prince Socrates, Hobbes and Machiavelli were three men with strong beliefs in their own opinions and ideas. All three firmly asserted they knew the best way to live life and the best way to achieve their goals. However, it is debatable as to whether Socrates, one of the earliest philosophers on morals, would agree with the writings and ideas of Hobbes and Machiavelli, both of whom wrote centuries later and in completely different environments. There are certainly some theories and approaches that the three scholars would agree on, but there are also explicit divides. The man who was constantly searching for truth and good – Socrates, the man who strongly believed the end justifies

He said that one must find the perfect balance of generosity, mercy and honesty, coupled with greed, cruelty and deceit in order to be successful. He believed that it is better to be loved and feared, but knew that if you can only have one, it should be fear, “…it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved” (Machiavelli 61). Machiavelli is perhaps the very personification of “the end justifies the means” in that he believed a strong and balanced prince could do what is necessary to ultimately end barbarism. However, this is an idea I argue Socrates would disagree with. Socrates lived a life fully dedicated to self-improvement and the search for “good” and “truth”. Socrates said, “… a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong — acting the part of a good man or a bad” (Plato 54). Machiavelli essentially says that a prince must do immoral and bad things in order to attain and keep power and improve the common good, “A Prince, therefore, must not mind incurring the charge of cruelty for the purpose of keeping his subjects united and faithful” (Machiavelli 60). Socrates would likely disagree with this because he had shown a lifestyle that

Socrates would believe their life and souls to be wasted. Machiavelli believed that a prince must always be in motion and thinking of how to stay ahead of others to maintain power. Socrates believed you should always be moving towards self-improvement, however, since the prince is aiming at maintaining power, perhaps this type of self-improvement would not be deemed moral and good for the soul. Socrates would most likely agree that attempts at the common good should be furthered as it was also his goal to get others to focus on friendship and a strong sense of community. Like Socrates, Machiavelli searched for the common good and truth. However, Socrates would likely disagree with Machiavelli on the method of attaining these