Comparison Between Nicolo Machiavelli And Thomas Hobbs

Name: Emmanuella Abolarinde 150413800 Prof Hillier BF 190-BR2 Comparison between Nicolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbs There are many philosophers that have different ideals and views on certain subjects and topics. This is often due to the fact that they were alive during certain time periods which were often having problems therefore affecting the philosopher’s views on what is right or wrong. Due to this fact the philosophers Machiavelli and Hobbs had both similar and contrasting ideals on the purpose of the government or kings and the way said government is supposed to rule their states and subjects. Machiavelli believes that the purpose of the government is to protect the state by any means necessary and to use the leaders subjects in a way that could further their own political agenda. This is proven by how in the translated version of the prince it says he learns to know his country, and is better able to undertake its defense. (Marriott 2013, 15) This shows that Machiavelli believed that a good and powerful leader must be able to know his surrounding country in order to properly defend his state from war which in turns shows that he believes that the purpose of the government is to protect their state from any threat of war. As the lecture states Machiavelli argued that the people under the king’s rule are essentially objects to be used for whatever the ruler’s political agenda was. (Hillier 2015) This includes the subjects being used as soldiers of war to keep the