Would you like to see a society in which police would be unnecessary, politicians would be honest, and money would cease to exist? Or would you like to see a society in which political conduct operates independent of ethics, thus disregarding moral authorities such as classical philosophy and Christian technology? In retrospect the choice then comes down to Sir Thomas More or Niccolò Machiavelli. During a time where classical Greek and Roman ideals were being resurrected, writers were composing works of literature about valued earthly life, nature, and individual achievement. More writes a novel based on those principles entitled, Utopia. He wants to see a society where the inhabitants live according to God and nature. He wants to get rid of the idea of greed which is portrayed by the princes, kings and leaders. Machiavelli thinks on the opposite side of the spectrum as More. He suggests that princes, kings and leaders are justified in doing anything to keep their powers, therefore preserving the state because the leader is the state.
Abduction of Europe
Famous posthumous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli...
English: Tomb of Niccolò Machiavelli in the Basil..."L'e tast c'est moi." From this, the ideas of Utopianism and Machiavellianism emerge and contradict one another. Two of these contradictions are religion and marriage.
"He therefore left men wholly to their liberty, that they might be free to believe as they should see cause; only he made a solemn and severe law against such as should so far degenerate from the dignity of human nature as to think that our souls died with our bodies, or that the world was governed by chance, without a wise overruling." (pg 147) People who lived in Utopia were free to choose the religion that they wished to practice. The only stipulation was that everyone had to believe in something. Religion was very important to the Utopians because they believed it would...