Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Suppose for instance that Lucifer is already residing in a major world city. Then consider what city he might choose. According to Machiavelli, the city would be one that demonstrated "great enterprises" and from the view of Machiavelli's theory the city would exude the magnificence of its ruler. Two cities come to mind in the contemporary age and those being the cities of New York City and the city of Dubai in the UAE. Ellul (1970) in his reflections on this discussion wrote t the following:
"Cain has built a city. For God's Eden he substitutes his own, for the goal given to his life by God, he substitutes a goal chosen by himself -- just as he substituted his own security for God's...The city is called Enoch. "Enoch" means "initiation" or "dedication" Cain dedicates a new world." (the Meaning of the City, p. 5-6) the city is a metaphor of predatory human behavior -- founded by the first predatory human-- where, piling on top of one another with the alpha human in the pyramidical penthouse, it vividly portrays the materialism driving its life, where struggling for money is struggling for life, and struggle is marked by predation."[footnoteRef:18](Machiavelli, nd, p.1 [18: Machiavelli, N. (1908) the Prince. Transl. W.K. Marriott Written c. 1505, published 1515. Rendered into HTML by Jon Roland of the Constitution Society. Retrieved from: http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm]
Augustine writes the following concerning the City of God
"With the fall of angels and the original sin of Adam, the earthly city was established. It was and is still occupied by those who strive for the glorification of self. Running parallel throughout time has been the heavenly city~the City of God. It was and is still occupied by those who strive to praise and glorify only the one true God. Every person must choose which city to occupy and serve."[footnoteRef:19] [19: Translated by Marcus Dods. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 2. Edited by Philip Schaff.(Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight..]
A reading of the work of St. Augustine or Machiavelli reveals that both of these individuals were affected by the events of the age in which they lived. The city of Rome had fallen after a 700-year long rule.
While Machiavelli's...
Augustine is spiritually focused and concerns the rule of God over future cities yet unestablished. However these futuristic conceptual frameworks are interlaced with the contemporary political issues of the age in which Machiavelli writes. Machiavelli provides the reader with hard-hitting advise about how to manage one's public image when a ruler and fails to acknowledge that certain ethical questions present
Summary and Conclusion
This study has endeavored to compare and contrast the work of Machiavelli in 'The Prince' and the work of St. Augustine in "City of God." These two works in writing are worth noting that, in that each of the stories results in the individual being thrown head-on into a political system, which may or may not be characterized by efficacy of the research. The ideas about what was meant of implied by these two authors are widely varied in nature.
References
Figgis, JN (2010) the Political Aspects of St. Augustine's City of God. Ido-European Publishing. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=SB0WMroBE18C&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Hurd, Lindsey (nd) St. Augustine's 'The City of God'. Retrieved from: http://www.fortifyingthefamily.com/cityofgod.htm
Machiavelli, N. (1908) the Prince. Transl. W.K. Marriott Written c. 1505, published 1515. Rendered into HTML by Jon Roland of the Constitution Society. Retrieved from: http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm
Machiavelli, N. (nd) the Prince. How a Prince Should Conduct Himself as to Gain Renown. Chapter XXI. Retrieved from: http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince21.htm
Pierce, a. (2008) Augustine on Civil Government: The Two Cities. Parableman. 11 Aug Retrieved from: http://parablemania.ektopos.com/archives/2008/08/rightreason2.html
ORourke, Jo (2013) Machiavelli's the Prince: Still Relevant after All These Years. BU Today. Retrieved from: http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/machiavelli-the-prince-still-relevant-after-all-these-years/
Translated by Marcus Dods. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 2. Edited by Philip Schaff.(Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.<http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm>.
Machiavelli Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli emerged as one of the first true secularist philosophers to come out of the Christian West. In succeeding years his name would become infamous; his views, associated with Satan and immorality. However, Machiavelli's most significant contributions to Western thought never overtly favored scheming or devious methods to more morally acceptable ones. But rather, he generally acknowledged that any actions taken in the acquisition and sustention
Hitler was an aggressive, dominant leader who was revered by many Germans. He overtook Poland and other nations such as Norway with virtually no defense at all because they were unprepared and their leaders did not anticipate or approve of aggression and defense. They were wrong, and it cost them dearly. If these nations had put up a real fight, the war might have had a different outcome. The
They might make good holiday spots but they do not make good political partners. Because almost all of the countries that do not maintain a military have treaties with nations that do, few nations can be classified as being truly demilitarized. The nations with explicit pacifist clauses in their constitutions like Costa Rica would be unable to withstand invasion from a hostile nation and are therefore useless in terms of
Aquinas / Machiavelli Edit Comparing Aquinas and Machiavelli Aquinas and Machiavelli both had an important position in the study of historical development of Western political theory. They were Italian giants of medieval philosophy and politics. One of their common arguments is that nature is the basis of politics, including the nature of human beings and the nature of nations. Some may argue that in the totality of comparison that the work of
Machiavelli, Luther, And Muntzer Must a good politician be morally bad? In the context of the Reformation, this question revolves around how Christians would define what is "morally bad" had become suddenly and seriously complicated by competing definitions of what constitutes "morally good" behavior. The rhetoric very often yielded more heat than light: Luther's and Muntzer's apparently sincere eschatological belief that the Vatican was to be identified with the Whore of
Society We all live within societies and we are the consistency of the society. As families and as individuals, we play roles and responsibilities that when combined point towards a given trend and charters of a larger group, hence the society. An ideal society is one that constitutes people with similar life patterns which are mutual and beneficial to each member of that particular group. The infiltration of people with divergent