Fun Stuff > CHATTER
Machiavellianism
Nodaisho:
Yeah, that test is bullshit. Would be nice if someone would make one that didn't suck. For example, I know my score is going to go up for saying that honesty isn't the best policy in all cases, and strongly disagreeing with there being no excuse for lying, but really, there are. Think about it, Germany 1942, police come knocking at your door, "Do you have any jews here?" "Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't ask that, because honestly I do, and honesty is always the best option, even when it means sending a half dozen innocent people to their deaths."
And then, there are the questions which aren't about what you would do, but about other people, so either you are machiavellian or naive? Isn't that nice.
I heard that the prince was actually intended as a satire of such a prince, haven't heard any corroborating evidence for that, though. Same with the corollary to "It is better to be feared than loved," I heard that he also said that it is critical to not be hated, but as I haven't read the book, I don't know for sure.
Tom:
Yeah, I only posted the test as a mildly fun distraction not a completely legitimate test and why did you Godwin the test, there probably are better examples. How do you know that you wouldn't have been swept up in the propaganda?
Chesire Cat:
--- Quote from: Nodaisho on 13 Aug 2008, 21:37 ---Think about it, Germany 1942, police come knocking at your door, "Do you have any jews here?" "Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't ask that, because honestly I do, and honesty is always the best option, even when it means sending a half dozen innocent people to their deaths."
--- End quote ---
I thought one of the main tenets in Machiavellianism is to take a pragmatic level of self concern where you would never get in such a situation.
Alex C:
I think it's worth pointing out again that Machiavelli wrote his book as a practical treatise on how someone in power may maintain the status quo and consolidate his power, not as a general guide on philosophy. The primary theme, more than anything else, was making sure the interests of your subjects aligned with your own-- if they fear you, they won't defy you for their own sakes, and he prefers miliitias over mercenaries because militias want to defend their homes while mercenaries want to live to spend their pay. Machiavelli shouldn't be judged too harshly, the man very pointedly made an effort to seperate political thought and exercises from moral evangelism. For the purposes of the thought exercises he was interested in what works rather than what is right, and you can see in his Discourses on Livy that he was actually a something of a proponent for modern republicanism. He may have been a cynic, but it didn't stop him from thinking a republican system with checks and balances was superior to a principality. He has a lot more in common with the "nicer" political thinkers than most people give him credit for.
20 jazz funk greats:
i got a 76 and i don't know enough about machiavelli to say whether i'm happy about said score.
i can be fairly cynical, but not manipulative.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version