Comparsion of Realism and Idealism in Niccolo...

When speaking of Niccolà ² Machiavelli from The Prince and Socrates, from Plato’s Republic, there is no way to avoid the clash between realism and idealism. The contrasting of both of these states of minds, when it comes to ruling a city, per se, is fascinating because, while they are extremely different, they’re perceiving the same objective: ruling a civilization successfully. Machiavelli uses the concepts of virtà ¹, fortuna, and free-will to describe political success. On the other hand, in The Republic of Plato, Socrates uses Justice and good morals to reach enlightenment and genuinely become a Philosopher King and thus, rule a city successfully. According to Plato, the soul is composed of three parts: Reason (logical), Emotion†¦show more content†¦When the moral goodness exists in the person, there also exists courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice: the four cardinal virtues Socrates mentions. In book six, Socrates introduces the metaphor, â€Å"The Ship of the State.† Plato describes that only â€Å" †¦for the true pilot it is necessary to pay careful attention to year, seasons, the heavens, the stars, the winds, and everything proper to the art if he is really going to be skilled at ruling a ship. (Plato, 488d)† It is to be understood that the pilot resembles the Philosopher King and the ship resembles the city. Thus, this metaphor analyzes the importance of the possession of Reason as the main conductor within the soul; the ruler with such characteristic also possesses the virtues necessary to rule a republic successfully. While Plato argues that having Justice in the soul and resembling a pure image of moral goodness is fundamental, Machiavelli informs his audiences that rulers must perform (depending on the necessities of the prince at the time) merciful, faithful, humane, and religious acts, or the complete opposite of these traits, to gain power and remain successfully in power. In other words, for Machiavelli, it is important that the means justify the ends. Machiavelli states that rulers of a civilization should, in fact, be truthful, keep promises, and have other characteristics of the like, so that a prince will not