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Pattern of Distruction- Machiavelli vs. Bacon

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Pattern of Distruction- Machiavelli vs. Bacon
16 November 2009
Research Paper
Destruction: It’s Inside Us All

The pattern of destruction is in each and every human being, and is buried within their very natures. This destruction is the root of all evil that is done by human hands. It comes in many shapes, sizes, and forms but, all lead to the same end. The end is what is recorded, but the beginning is what needs to be researched. Who is to say that if the beginning was averted, that the ending would have never happened? Human nature is a destructive force, and therein lays the danger. The danger of the pattern of destruction being infectious, and how it finds a way to seep into everyone’s mind and cause various forms of evil. This destructive pattern can present itself in a physical act of destruction; the never ending cycle, the recurring pattern, and the trend of presenting most within the family and within one’s self. Destruction manifests in two broad topics named mind and reason.
Within the mind, the mental aspects of the pattern of destruction include fear, hatred, the belief that one is superior to another, lack of control, and self-destructive patterns. Within the reason category, there are the physical aspects of personal gain, and the rise and quest for power. Two great philosophers, Machiavelli and Francis Bacon, write of the destruction through man. Machiavelli’s writing of “The Qualities of the Prince,” and Bacon’s writing “The Four Idols,” show their views of human nature and how it can become a destructive force. The quest for power is one of the evils of human nature. In Machiavelli’s “Qualities of the Prince,” the ruler is subject to a rise in power, and with it the driving force of trying to gain more. He writes, “a prince, therefore, must not have any other object nor any other thought, nor must he take anything as his profession but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only profession which benefits one who commands; and it is of such importance that not



Cited: Aitchison, Steven. Eight Destructive Thinking Patterns and How to Change Them. Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Live. July 2008. <http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog/2008/07/02/8-destructive-thinking-patterns-and-how-to-change-them/> Black, Joanne. Patterns of Destruction. New Zealand Listener, Oct 2009. <http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3623/columnists/14176/patterns_of_destruction.html> Jacobus, Lee. A World of Ideas. Bedford/ St. Martin’s; Boston, MA. c. 2010. Machiavelli 37-53; Bacon 579-595. Landry, Peter. The Springs of Human Motivation: Thoughts on the Nature of Man. 2006. <http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/BluePete/Man.htm#rfn1> Vitale, Joe. Patterns: Self Destruction Mind Trick. Law of Attraction. Nov 2009. <http://blog.mrfire.com/?p=1654> Zmora, H. Love of Country and Love of Party: Patriotism and human nature in Machiavelli. History of Political Thought. 424-445: 2004.

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