And of course, power alone cannot obligate one, inasmuch as obligation assumes that one cannot meaningfully do otherwise

one can say this sopra general of men: they are ungrateful, disloyal, insincere and deceitful, timid of danger and avid of profit…. Love is verso bond of obligation which these miserable creatures break whenever it suits them onesto do so; but fear holds them fast by verso dread of punishment that never passes. (Prince CW 62; translation revised)

As per result, Machiavelli cannot really be said onesto have a theory of obligation separate from the imposition of power; people obey only because they fear the consequences of not doing so, whether the loss of life or of privileges.

If I think that I should not obey per particular law, what eventually leads me onesto submit to that law will be either per fear of the power of the state or the actual exercise of that power

Concomitantly, a Machiavellian perspective directly attacks the notion of any grounding for authority independent of the sheer possession of power. For Machiavelli, people are compelled onesto obey purely durante deference to the superior power of the state. It is power which durante the final instance is necessary for the enforcement of conflicting views of what I ought preciso do; I can only choose not onesto obey if I possess the power esatto resist the demands of the state or if I am willing sicuro accept the consequences of the state’s superiority of coercive force. Machiavelli’s argument durante The Prince is designed preciso demonstrate that politics can only coherently be defined per terms of the supremacy of coercive power; authority as a right esatto command has in nessun caso independent situazione. He substantiates this http://www.datingranking.net/it/arablounge-review/ assertion by reference puro the observable realities of political affairs and public life as well as by arguments revealing the self-interested nature of all human conduct. Continue Reading