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Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince and Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan illustrate the workings of an absolute government. While Machiavelli focused on the leader, Hobbes wrote about the government itself. Although they focused on different aspects, they shared the common goal of providing security in an insecure world.

They also share an opinion of human and how it must be controlled. In order to accomplish such a thing, the government must have absolute control and the leader or prince must be wiser and slier than the rest. The prince would be the ideal leader for the Leviathan government as they complement each other and share the purpose of maintaining the peace and security of people and state.

The following pages examine the relationship between a prince and the Leviathan government and why he would be qualified to be at the head of it. First, they will examine the fundamentals of prince and government. Then it will explain the points upon which they relate.

Both The Prince and Leviathan have a dim view of human nature. This basic theory presents the problem of how people can all live with security in their lives. They both attempt to provide a solution. Machiavelli creates the character of a prince whom is the worst of the w

In order to rule subjects such as these while providing them with protection a prince must be highly skilled and adroit. He would have to be both a fox and a lion for the fox cannot defend against its enemies while the lion cannot avoid traps (Machiavelli 55). He must be sly and capable of overcoming any obstacle to him and the state. This may include lying to his subjects or executing them. A prince must not honor his word if it places him at a disadvantage because men are all wretched and would not keep their word (Machiavelli 55). Also the prince would know when to commit the lesser evil for the greater good:

In response to The Prince Jean Rousseau wrote that the best leaders want mastery over the people so that they are weak and unable to resist them (Rosseau 125). This is true as there can be no rebellion that often led to murder and death. It would help insure the welfare of the state which is what Leviathan also seeks to provide.

These nearly always harm the whole community, whereas executions ordered by a

A fundamental principle of The Prince is the assumption that all men are evil and low. "One can make this generalization about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers. They shun danger and are greedy for profit" (Machiavelli 52). This is a basic theme in The Prince that Machiavelli presents many times. One example is of which it stated "...men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony..." (Machiavelli 53). It is saying that men are so selfish that they value money and land over their parent.

Hobbes gave reasons to why there is conflict between men and what would be needed to quell that conf

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Approximate Word count = 1125
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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