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Plato vs Machiavelli
Course: The History of Western Political Thought (POL SCI 005)
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Students shared 3 documents in this course
University: Los Angeles Pierce College
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Tsaturyan 1
Political Science 005
19 October 2022
Plato vs Machiavelli
The achievements of Plato and Machiavelli have had a profound influence on
contemporary administration. They all had different viewpoints and theories about who should
run the country, and this has influenced modern political ideologies and government operations.
Despite their divergent views on a wide range of topics, Machiavelli and Plato agreed on one
thing: the government and the people needed a supreme leader. The main questions of
civilization—who should rule, how one should rule, and what should the purpose of the state
be—have always sparked conflict and murder. One of these thinkers thought that people might
share political power, and American pluralism is a result of this belief. Examining each of their
concepts, we find that Machiavelli's views are similar to those of Americans.
Plato's beliefs are a reflection of his own life and the fact that only adult male citizens
were permitted to participate in politics in his day. Plato's political views were significantly
affected by two significant events. As an illustration, "The affluent aristocracy retained control of
the land and the government, and, over time, poorer property owners became slaves (or almost
so) through debt to the more wealthy" (Boyd). Plato thought it wasn't fair, despite coming from a
wealthy family. He started to promote the return of democracy, although it resembled a struggle
between citizens and their social class. Plato's beliefs are a reflection of his own life and the fact
that only adult male citizens were permitted to participate in politics in his day. Plato's political
views were significantly affected by two significant events. As an illustration, "The affluent
aristocracy retained control of the land and the government, and, over time, poorer property
owners became slaves (or almost so) through debt to the more wealthy" (Boyd). Plato thought it
wasn't fair, despite coming from a wealthy family. He started to promote the return of democracy,
although it resembled a struggle between citizens and their social class.
According to Plato, a philosopher king should be in charge of the populace. A wise
person or someone who loves wisdom is a philosopher king. For instance, "They would act
morally and not out of self-interest since they would recognize that the greatest self-benefit is
living virtuously" (Zaykova). This indicates that selecting thinkers to be kings is considered a
wise rule. Contrarily, Plato's ideals were more focused on maintaining the status quo, which does
not align with American Pluralism. For instance, "Pluralism is the belief that the United States is
governed by a variety of factions rather than the people as a whole. These groups, which include
environmentalists, trade and professional organizations, and unions among others... (Pluralism).
Pluralism describes the way different groups coexist and dominate in the US; no one group has
complete power. Since Plato believed that only one philosopher king should rule in order to
make wise decisions, it does not accurately reflect his ideals. According to Plato's philosophy,
moral leaders are necessary to create a good government.
Machiavelli's beliefs were harsher and more direct than those of Plato, which were more
idealistic. Machiavelli lived in Florence in the 1400s, a time when the city was under Spanish
rule. Both Machiavelli and Plato believed that a ruler should hold political authority, however
Machiavelli's perspective was different from Plato's. He advocated for a prince to be in charge.
