POL 118B Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Psalm 14, Fairy

• School: UC-Davis
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 118B
• Professor: Robert Taylor

Document Summary

Hobbes, machiavelli, and the prudential defense of justice. Hobbes lived after machiavelli, and hobbes read machiavelli. Ho(cid:271)(cid:271)es" (cid:448)eiled atta(cid:272)k o(cid:374) ma(cid:272)hia(cid:448)elli: re(cid:272)all that ho(cid:271)(cid:271)es" third la(cid:449) of nature is the (cid:272)ou(cid:374)sel that (cid:373)e(cid:374) (cid:271)e just, i. e. (cid:862)erfor(cid:373)e their (cid:272)o(cid:448)e(cid:374)a(cid:374)ts (cid:373)ade(cid:863) (cid:894)(cid:1005)(cid:1004)(cid:1004)(cid:895). I(cid:374) the (cid:272)ourse of defending his law (percept). Hobbes introduces a hypothetical naysayer- the foole- who questions the very prudence of justice: the foole; takes hobbes too much of his word. One can detect in the last sentence a not-so-subtle cut at machiavelli, who seems to (cid:373)ake just a(cid:374) e(cid:454)(cid:272)eptio(cid:374) for rulers i(cid:374) the pri(cid:374)(cid:272)e"s (cid:894)i(cid:374)(cid:895)fa(cid:373)ous chapter (cid:1005)(cid:1012) (cid:894)(cid:862)i(cid:374) what way. Pri(cid:374)(cid:272)es must keep faith(cid:863)(cid:895: as long as your successful nobody is going to care about the fact you are against humanity and against religion. Although ma(cid:272)hia(cid:448)elli"s fo(cid:272)us is o(cid:374) (cid:272)urre(cid:374)t rulers, he (cid:373)ea(cid:374)t it to appl(cid:455) to prospective rulers as well (e. g. conqueror, usurpers)