POL 2108 Lecture : POL 2108 A - Modern Political Thought I - Guy Côté - 03 Jan. 14.docx
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Pol 2108 a - modern political thought i - guy c t - 03 jan. 14. Most philosophers think there"s a human nature, whether it is that we"re all good or bad. Niccolo machiavelli (1469-1527) does not believe our human nature includes the desire to be happy, unlike the early greek philosophers like aristotle or plato. To him, if you have an objective, any means to achieve said end is allowed. Unlike other philosophers, he does not focus on what the objective should be, but the means. He was very ambitious and wanted to be prince lorenzo de medici"s advisor. He even wrote a book about how to achieve your goals to get the prince"s attention. Basically, he talks about how to get from point a to point b. To machiavelli, b is a self-fulfillment of the state. To him, the more ancient a historical text is about politics, the more truthful it is.