I was just looking at the article in Wikipedia about Machiavelli, and it referred to an essay edited by Voltaire which had been written against the effectiveness of Machiavelli's principles. So my question is was Voltaire against Machiavelli or his ideas?
2006-09-15 04:52:25 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
I don't think that the phrasing you want to use is "against," as Voltaire agreed that the Art of War had long been practiced by European Culture, but they weren't wholly aware of it until Machiavelli pointed it out them. One could interpret that Voltaire is claiming that Machiavelli's approaches were standard at best, considering everyone "knew," but it just wasn't "named," making it an obvious assessment.
2006-09-15 05:01:05 · answer #1 · answered by jennybeanses 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not uncommon for philosophers to have competing philosophies. Consider Adam Smith (capitalism) versus Karl Marx (communism). So is Voltaire the rights of man while Machiavelli is 'the ends justifies the means'? If so, then there could be a conflict.
2006-09-15 04:56:03 · answer #2 · answered by Brand X 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Isn't it obvious that the principles of the Enlightenment are founded in opposition to the vicious practices of the Prince ?
2006-09-15 05:07:00 · answer #3 · answered by Andrew Noselli 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course!
2006-09-15 08:07:36 · answer #4 · answered by A 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋