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New Argument For Morality: Machiavelli And The Ancients

Decent Essays

Major, Rafael.“ A New Argument for Morality: Machiavelli and the Ancients.” Political Research Quartely vol. 60, no. 2 (June 2007). 171-189. Accessed September 17,
2014. JSTOR.
Parel, A.J. “ Machiavelli’s Notions of Justice: Text and Analysis” Political Theory vol. 18, no. 4 ( Nov, 1990). 528-544. Acessed September 17, 2014. JSTOR.

“A New Argument for Morality: Machiavelli and the Ancients” by Rafael Major argues that Machiavelli relied on the rhetorical strategy of classical authors and Christian texts to formulate his moral philosophy. This usage demonstrated that The Prince was not as original or realistic as Machiavelli believed. Rafael Major is a lecturer at the University of North Texas with a focus on politics. The intended …show more content…

Major’s primary sources are the writings of classical authors such as Plato and Aristotle, which prove how Machiavelli borrowed much of his advice from classical authors. His main primary source, however, is chapter three of The Prince. His secondary sources such as Nathan Tarcov’s reading of chapter three of The Prince and various writings on Machiavelli by Quentin Skinner suggest that chapter three of The Prince is vital to Machiavelli’s ideology and reasoning of morality. Pearl uses predominately primary sources with his secondary sources supporting his textual analysis and arguments. The primary sources are Machiavelli’s various writings, Cicero’s writings on justice and war, and Dante’s The Divine Comedy. These sources demonstrate how Machiavelli was aware of both the classical and the Christian concept of justice while never completely dependent upon these sources. Parel’s secondary sources such as Quentin Skinner’s observation on Machiavelli and the concept of virtue illustrate how Machiavelli felt about justice. Major uses his primary sources to show that Machiavelli’s arguments were not original; however, Parel uses his primary sources to prove how Machiavelli strayed from the beliefs of classical and Christian authors. Parel and Major use their secondary sources to support their claims. Major’s main points are how Machiavelli diverged from realism through his …show more content…

Major’s article, however, suggests that Machiavelli derived many of his ideas concerning human nature from classical and Christian authors. Major contends that only Machiavelli’s response to human nature is unique. Parel illustrates that Machiavelli did use Christian and classical sources while forming his own concept of justice. These articles also illustrate how Machiavelli viewed self-preservation and fear. Parel argues that Machiavelli believes the crux of human experience is the fear of the unknown. Majors also illustrates how anticipating the unknown was important to the success of the Romans. Both articles also suggest that Machiavelli’s viewed the usage of force as being essential to his concepts of morality and justice. They also both argue that Machiavelli did not believe humans could be inherently moral or just. Both articles mention the importance of self-preservation and highlight that Machiavelli believed war and self-preservation were intertwined. The main difference between the articles is the author’s viewpoint on how Machiavelli used Christian and classical

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