Machiavelli s Proposal Of The Prince Reflected Italy s...

Regardless of the time and setting, there has always been an old age question of whether true political stability can be achieved. One can argue that even current worldly governments have yet to reach equilibrium of power and wealth. Needless to say, philosophers like Machiavelli and Socrates, who lived in dark times of political turbulence, aimed to find peace within their respective political atmospheres. Machiavelli’s proposal of the prince reflected Italy’s Renaissance era and drew upon the idea that a head of power would rule in accordance to certain beliefs and guidelines that would establish a government in which greater good of the people would be prioritized. Meanwhile, Socrates preached in Athens focusing on the emphasis of†¦show more content†¦While a prince should act towards the benefit of his people, it was also of utmost importance that he maintained power. Therefore, a prince should be ruthless and in a sense, act against virtue. During the period in which Socrates preached, Athens was attempting to provide a unified front to the people and ensure that the people trusted the government in power. The aftermath of the Peloponnesian War resulted in power struggles. When Socrates began his style of teaching, better known as the Socratic Method, the Athenian government disapproved and viewed him as a threat to peace. His philosophy revolved around the interest he had for how people behaved, which contributed to his development of the Socratic Method. It was believed that the best approach to a problem was the breakdown of questions that would lead to solutions. The use of counterexamples was a means of discovering the root of the problem because there would be alternate explanations for the problem. Socrates stressed the importance of knowledge and encouraged the youth to act in accordance to will and morality. He also realized that those who claimed to possess all knowledge were in the fact the ones who knew nothing. During his testimony