Comparing the Societies in Machiavelli's The Prince and More's Utopia

The topic of utopias have always been an interesting topic for philosophers throughout time. Many ideas and perfect laws have been discussed, however every man’s virtue, is another’s vice and there are disagreements. Both Plato’s The Republic and More’s Utopia heavily discuss their ideas of a perfect society. Their thoughts on a utopia have plenty similarities, more specifically in gender relations. They believe that for a society to truly be equal women must work as much as men and that both men and women should have an education. Plato and More, two very progressive philosophers for their time, convey ideas that defied conventions at the time, however both were still influenced greatly by traditions and while their views seem extreme yet

“Ideas shape the course of history”- John Maynard Keynes, Economist. History has a way of always changing things. We get these ideas of how to the make the world better, how to make a country better, how a make a city better. All of these ideas of what would make the perfect place to be in. We all envision a perfect place for us to live in. We envision what the government would look like, how the government would look like. But it is not just the government we envision our own perfect way. Economic structures, religious beliefs, social customs, and legal systems, we envision these things to be perfect, according to our own wants and desires. In Sir Thomas More’s Utopia that is exactly is happening. Utopia is defined as an imagined place or

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 16th-century. His methods of acquiring and maintaining rule over people are not relevant in today’s modern American society. There are many principles that are still true in politics today, but the methods of ruling can no longer be used in American society today.

A utopia is what everyone is aiming for, but is that really what they are getting? With the hopes of a perfect society, we the people are rushing for a drastic change in the way things work without giving too much care in which direction things are changing, and that can and will cause definite issues. In the hopes to rush into a perfect world, too many people are treating government like a roulette wheel and hoping for the best, even though all odds are against them. In doing so, they are setting themselves up for a more controlled tomorrow.

Niccolò Machiavelli was an activist of analyzing power. He believed firmly in his theories and he wanted to persuade everyone else of them as well. To comment on the common relationship that was seen between moral goodness and legitimate authority of those who held power, Machiavelli said that authority and power were essentially coequal.9 He believed that whomever had power obtained the right to command; but goodness does not ensure power. This implied that the only genuine apprehension of the administrative power was the attainment and preservation of powers which indirectly guided the maintenance of the state. That, to him, should have been the objective of all leaders. Machiavelli believed that one should do whatever it took, during the given circumstance, to keep his people in favor of him and to maintain the state. Thus, all leaders should have both a sly fox and ravenous wolf inside of him prepared to release when necessary.10

The period in which this takes place is known as the Renaissance. Scholars during this time, began to take new approaches to the more traditional way of thinking that was common at the time. This allowed for exploration in all subjects. Machiavelli, who took inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman civilization, wrote a book called "The Prince" in which he shares his ideas on how to be a proper ruler. He states: "It is better to be feared than

In the pursuit for the perfect societal rule, Philosophers emerged with their teachings and ideals for how society should be governed. The first Philosopher we meet during the late 14th century and early 15th century is Thomas More. More was an English humanist, an influential philosopher who and began his career as a lawyer before entering government service. More is predominately known for his writing of, Utopia, in these writings More suggests changes that could improve society, he describes what he believes to be a perfect world. The land he refers to in his writings is a made-up place since we all know that there is no such thing as a perfect world. I believe what made Utopia so intriguing is that it provided a perspective on everyday life that people were not familiar with but really liked, I mean who wouldn’t want to live in a perfect world where no one went

Machiavelli was one of the first “modern” political thinkers in the late 1400s and early 1500s. He addresses to a government with principalities, in which the power is either inherited or the power is attained through wickedness.

Sir Thomas More was born in London to Agnes and John More a lawyer in 1477. Tomas after being a page in the Morton Household was sent to Oxford University and became a successful lawyer. After becoming an MP for the Under-Sheriff of London he started writing the book Utopia and finishing it 1516. After writing the book he was appointed as the privy councilor to King Henry VIII in 1518. He was latter executed in 1535 for refusing King Henry VIII to be the head of the church. Utopia is a fictional book about Mores talk with Raphael Nonsenso and his travels to Utopia.

the people are empowered, but the ideals that truly run the society, are empowered. More’s true

In the Prince, Machiavelli writes that it is "better to be both loved and feared." (The Prince) Machiavelli describes how it is important to be seen as powerful to your subjects, but you should not be so evil that your subjects may actually want to rebel. In Utopia, More wants a government where the leaders try to do their best to bring happiness to all of the country. The Prince comes from the notion that you must have complete psychological control over your people to really be able to have power. In Utopia, the leaders' important goal is for everybody to be happy and satisfied. Only this would bring a peaceful and prosperous society.

While the human race is incredibly diverse and expansive, many writers and philosophers work to find common characteristics that they can attribute to what is typically referred to as human nature. Nicolo Machiavelli provides his beliefs on human nature in his text, The Prince. While this work mostly surrounds the proper way to lead a princedom, there are many parts of the text that show how human nature affects the way a prince should rule his people. The examples of princes having to work around humanity provided over the course of Machiavelli’s work ultimately reflect what he considers to be flaws within human beings everywhere. An extensive examination of the devices and techniques used within Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince shows how he believes human beings are self-interested beings that can only be ruled through deception and force.

     To be just is to be fair and honorable. Kids are taught that if you are kind and just you will excel and be successful. But life’s not fair and being just doesn’t necessary mean that a society will stand the test of time and be able to grow. The two different societies introduced in More’s Utopia and Machiavelli’s The Prince are very different and although More’s Utopian society would be considered more just then Machiavelli’s society. Machiavelli’s society is more realistic and more likely to be viable.

Throughout human history, Utopia is a word that have been eulogized as a community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. This idea has been promoted by Thomas More via his fiction work and political philosophy in 1516. Utopia, then, becomes a final goal of many wealthy people around the world, who are seeking for the happiest and the most secure place to maintain their property. However, most of individual prefer to keep benefits for themselves rather than sharing with others, until they realizes that their society is struggling itself with several social problems, such as homelessness, domestic abuse, and poverty. Moreover, the gap between classes in the society is bigger throughout the period. Those reasons leads More’s vision of perfection in society become impossible to achieve. In other world, our current society is impossible to get close to the ideal world. First of all, each individual in our society would never allow themselves to look similar to each other. Secondly, citizens in our society prefer to maximize their benefits and keep it for themselves or family rather than sharing their products to others. Finally, our social norms strongly base on the regulation and structure, where the whole society can incorporate with each other and run smoothly.

Niccolo Machiavelli is considered the father of modern political science. Living in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth-century's, Machiavelli was a citizen of the city-state of Florence where he served as a secretary to the city council and as a diplomatic envoy for 14 years. The Prince was published five years after his death and is regarded as his most famous work. The Prince is an articulate and precise explanation of the way to use the lesson of history in politics as an example to learn and build ideas from. The Prince can be broken up into four parts. Firstly, Machiavelli explains how a prince gets a state. Secondly, he explains how a prince holds on to a state. Thirdly, he