Question

What is the most persuasive aspect of Landon’s argument about power? What would you suggest he do to improve his comparison of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke?

Answer 1

By improving they are Machiavelli, who along with Hobbes, helped to generate the tradition of political realism. Hobbes was a scholar, whose aim was to put politics onto a scientific footing; he therefore employed a strict logical approach to his work. In contrast, Machiavelli was a man of action; he worked, primarily, as a civil servant of the Florentine Republic. He drew conclusions, having made observations of how people actually behaved rather than the way they ought to behave in a hypothetical and intangible world.