Truth in Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Truth in Politics - Essay ExampleFor Machiavelli, virtu or skill as wielded by a ruler would make for a state that would thrive and treasure itself from the machinations of enemy-states. War for Plato is essentially unjust and the yet justification for it is for defending the state, while for Machiavelli a state exists to occupy war against other states - thus, war, is a natural condition in a states existence. Plato and Machiavelli also lived in contrasting eras. For the former, philosophy is concerned with the truth, as embodied by principles and how things should be, and this concern would naturally result in a perfect society. For the latter, philosophy is allied with the realities of power, in how things are as they are.Philosophers in Platos Republic are the only ones ideal to rule (and become kings) because they love and search for the truth - as opposed to the other ii classes, the people who are mainly concerned with honor, and the masses, who are concerned with money a nd the indulgence of physical appetites. The philosopher-kings feature the quality of truthfulness who will never intentionally receive into their minds falsehood, which is their detestation, and they will love the truth. Truth as conceived by Plato is absolute, dealing with the eternal and the unchanging, the forms opposed to the fickle, the merely seen and experienced.