Machiavelli's View On Human Nature Analysis

Human nature has been the discussion of many of philosophical works. There are some who believe human beings are inherently bad, individualistic and greedy. There are those who believe humans are inherently good and seek the best possible outcomes for society as a whole. Upon reading Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, and John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government the audience may begin to understand how those ideas of human nature can have an effect on an individual’s political ideology. Machiavelli, Marx, and Locke all expressed in their works how they viewed human nature and gave historical background and evidence of how their opinions of human nature directly affected their political ideology and how
The Prince was written by Niccolò Machiavelli while he was in exile. In his efforts to return to politics, Machiavelli wrote the Prince in order to exert the true nature of a successful leader, and once again be in the good graces of the Medici’s who were rising to power in Italy. The Prince reveals what Machiavelli views to be a successful leader. The Prince also reveals how Machiavelli views the nature of humans and how that effects how a dictator/leader should rule. Machiavelli believes human beings are selfish, greedy, easily manipulated, and incapable of self-governing as it often ends in their own demise. “[F]or men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves, and this hope induces them to take up arms against him who rules: wherein they are deceived, because they afterwards find by experience they have gone from bad to worse” (Machiavelli 201). Human selfishness inhibits the individual’s ability to make rational long-term decisions thus deeming them incapable of self-governing. If given the people the right to make their own decisions, their greed ill cloud their judgment and cause them to make decisions that may not be in their best interest. If the society is not capable of self-governing they will need a strong leader and Machiavelli has the recipe for the perfect
Marx and Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto to explain the history of class struggles in Europe and how communism was the ultimate form of government meant to bring equality to society and end the oppressive rule of the rising Bourgeoisie class. For Marx, humans are rational beings. But in a bourgeoisie capitalist dominated society, reality has become distorted and diminished a once functioning society. Industrialization has created a society of working class citizens who are manipulated, easily exploited, and oppressed for monetary gains. This is counterintuitive for the advancement of society and a successful government and brings about struggles of class. Therefore Marx argues the working class should be in control of government, because they are the ones ho keep the bourgeoisie rich and the economy running. “Formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat” (Marx 14). Marx argues the average working class citizens are capable of governing the land and distributing wealth evenly amongst the people. Writing is simply not enough he calls for revolution in order to restore peace and end the impoverishment of many