St. Augustine vs. Machiavelli a Comparison of the Good...

Ben Parrish St. Augustine vs. Machiavelli: A comparison of the Good Society Final Project 09/01/13 Both St. Augustine and Machiavelli believed that in order to understand the true nature of society you must see men for what they truly were. Augustine and Machiavelli are similar in their pessimistic views toward human nature, looking at human self-love and self-interest and believed it to be full of evil, cruelty, betrayal, violence and tied that relationship into the creation of war. For both philosophers a good society is actually something that for almost all men is an unreachable attribute that can only be written about and not actually fully experienced in my view. For Augustine I feel it is a truly heavenly earth where all men are†¦show more content†¦In general, Machiavelli believes people are fundamentally self-interested and unreliable. He writes â€Å"Men are quick to change ruler when they imagine they can improve their lot.† (The Prince) Machiavelli looks at all men as stupid and irrational, incapable of knowing what is actually best for them. He believe s that men would opt for a diet that taste better and completely ignore the fact that there may be a hidden poison within the food because men are so accustom to taking care of their self interest over everything else they are blind to the actual deception of man’s evil intent. In his eye’s all men are greedy, yet gullible, so they are easily acceptable to manipulation and cons. Human nature is nothing more than men behaving as if there is no difference between the nature of man and animal. Just like animals, men possess both good and bad qualities that allow them to survive within the presence of a community. Because man is so anxious to avoid danger, he is able to keep his self interest at bay most of the time. Machiavelli suggests the reason this happens is because a lot of the time people’s self interest actually intertwine. (Erb) The difference between Augustine and Machiavelli is that while Machiavelli feels that all human behavior is conceptual from birt h, Augustine believes that men choose to beShow MoreRelatedKey Differences Between Realism and Neo Realism2781 Words   |  12 Pagestrace its roots in the history within the intellectual works of Thucydides, Machiavelli and Hobbes. Realism is based on an assumption that men as a unit is selfish and egocentric by its nature and is driven by the desire of power. Units are organized into states from which each and every one acts in their own national interest. This self interest can be defined in terms of power. States exist in an international society characterized by the lack of superior and hierarchal defined authority (anarchy)