Home: Polsc 301: Study Guide for Exam 2

Study Guide for Exam 2

Names, Terms, Concepts:

Machiavelli

Francesco Vettori

the "mirror" style of writing

Lorenzo D'Medici

Sun Tzu (video, book)

Pope Alexander

Cesare Borgia

Agathocles

Moses (according to Machiavelli)

realism v. idealism

dangerous teacher

objective reporter

Italian patriot

virtue (virtu)

popularity (importance for Machiavelli)

parsimony, liberality

the "fox" and the "lion"

force and fraud (their uses)

cruelty well used

being "resolute"

prudence, fortune

interpretation

The Discourses

campaign finance laws (parallels)

Mark McNeilly

Thomas Hobbes

John Locke

Questions:

1. Explain how Machiavelli can be seen as a "teacher of evil," an objective reporter, and an Italian patriot by showing evidence for each of these in his arguments.

2. What does Machiavelli mean by "virtue"? What did previous thinkers mean by the same word? What is Machiavelli saying about previous thinkers by changing the meaning?

3. How does Machiavelli deal with the religious figure Moses and religious institutions like the Catholic Church of his day? What does this indicate about his overall attitude towards religion and its relationship to politics?

4. Discuss how Machiavelli's and Sun Tzu's realist advice can be used today in different areas of life.

5. Why does Machiavelli prefer citizen militias over mercenaries, auxiliaries or nobles? What are the political implications of his preference?

6. When and why did Sun Tzu write the Art of War? What makes Sun Tzu a realist, and in what ways are his teachings similar to Machiavelli's, even though they are far apart in time and culture?

7. How does the classical liberal political thought of Hobbes and Locke and the American founders derive from some of the ideas Machiavelli developed? What makes each thinker different?

8. How does Machiavelli define and describe "fortune" and how does he advise the prince to deal with fortune? In what way is this a new approach to dealing with fortune?