Aristotle Vs Machiavelli Essay

Upon first look, one would not think that Aristotle and Machiavelli share much in common. However, upon closer inspection, Machiavelli’s ideal republic, one that is personified in Rome according to his Discourses on Livy, seems to have been influenced by the Polity that Aristotle constructs beginning in Book VI of The Politics. The two regimes, surprisingly, seem to consider the notion of realpolitik. That is, both take into account the constraints and obstacles that they must face in a realistic society and the practical application of governing a populace that is not completely virtuous at all times. On the other hand, Aristotle and Machiavelli still approach those issues from a completely different school of thought and reason. Therefore while Aristotle’s Polity and Machiavelli’s Republic have similar treatments in view of the …show more content…
The two deviant regimes work as checks and balances and form a kind of mean. He claims that this system hearkens back to the Ethics, stressing “that the happy way of life is unimpeded life in accordance with virtue and that virtue is a mean” (1295a34-35). By finding the mean or middle ground between two extremes everyone can strive to obtain it, and thus approximate correct rule and virtue (1295a34-38). At this point the polity will be a conglomeration of interests, people, ideas, and sentiments. With competing ideologies in place, the chance of a tyrannical man abusing power is severely lowered. Complete authority does not rest in one man, thereby preventing a rapid sway towards deviation. It is much safer to rely on the decision of the many all of whom possess a bit of providence and virtue. According to Aristotle the many then become, “One in character and thought,” just as they become one body (1281a47-49). Popular personal passions and factious interests are funneled into a channel that tends towards the good of the

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