Was Machiavelli Satan Essays - Machiavellianism, The Prince

Was Machiavelli Satan? The Church accused Niccolo Machiavelli of being Satan for writing his book The Prince. Machiavelli completed The Prince in 1513. He wrote it as a gift to Lorenzo Medici, called the Magnificent, ruler of Florence. The political views Machiavelli expressed in his book went against the theology of the Church, specifically the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. Machiavelli wrote to gain control of a principality one must be brutal. (I)f you are a prince in possession of a newly acquired state and deem it necessary. . . to annihilate those who can or must attack you. . . . , you must do so to protect your principality. He gave the example of Duke Valentino's slaying of his nobles to maintain order, saying if Valentino had not killed his men, Valentino would have lost power. The Bible strongly forbids the killing of anyone. The Sixth Commandment states You shall not murder. In what is known as the Beatitudes, from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Bible also says those who are meek shall inherit the earth. A meek person certainly does not kill others for standing in his or her way like Machiavelli is suggesting to be done. Another verse from the Beatitudes says those who are peacemakers will be called sons of God. Peacemakers do not kill either. For Machiavelli to say if killing a person is for the betterment of your principality, then to do so went against God's rule and the Church's. True followers of the Church abide by the Church beliefs, because if you are not for God, you are for Satan. As a ruler a prince must make certain pledges and steadfast promises; however, Machiavelli reasons that a prince does not have to keep his word all the time. The prince can pledge one thing under certain circumstances; but if those circumstances change, he is free to change his pledge if the change should benefit his situation. For instance, Pope Alexander VI, who reigned before Machiavelli wrote The Prince, made promises more persuasively or swore to them more solemnly and kept so few of them . . . . Pope Alexander VI also got what he wanted by deceiving others. The Beatitudes say those who desire righteousness will be filled; those who are pure of heart will see God. Righteousness and purity do not occur through deception. The ninth of the Ten Commandments says You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor, meaning do not lie. Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, says Do no break your oath . . . . The Church had good reason to disagree with Machiavelli about cra ftiness. Nobility for princes can be seen as one of two ways: generous or parsimonious. If a prince is generous, his generosity usually comes at the expense of his subjects. The prince would have to tax his people heavily in order to give. This will begin to make him odious to his subjects and . . . will lose him the respect of everyone. For a prince to give money, he need not tax his people, rather give what he pillaged and stole while on various campaigns. If a prince is stingy with the peoples money, he will not tax as much; thus, his subjects will honor him more. The teachings of the Church and the Bible promote generosity, and remark that keeping one's wealth to oneself will lead to self destruction, Hell. The teachings likewise include You shall not steal. Although his ideas were contrary to those of the Church and of the Bible, Machiavelli can not be compared with Satan. He was promoting the survival of a principality at any cost. He said a prince will find things which, though seeming good, will lead to his ruin if pursued, and others which, though seeming evil, will result in his safety and well-being. Machiavelli also said that if a ruler gains control by cruelty and wickedness the ruler is without virtue, and he cannot be compared to men of good character. He does not condone this type of behavior, he merely contends it is necessary to exist as a prince. Various people in the Bible killed others. One of

Quintilian - Marcus Fabius Quintilianus

Quintilian - Marcus Fabius Quintilianus Influence: A first century A.D. Roman who came to prominence under Emperor Vespasian, Quintilian wrote about education and rhetoric, exerting a strong influence in the schools the Romans spread throughout the Empire. His influence on education continued from his day until the 5th century. It was revived briefly in the 12th century in France. The Humanists at the end of the 14th century renewed interest in Quintilian and a complete text of his Institutio Oratoria was found in Switzerland. It was first printed in Rome in 1470. Birth of Quintilian: Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (Quintilian) was born c. A.D. 35 in Calagurris, Spain. His father may have taught rhetoric there. Training: Quinitilian went to Rome when he was about 16. The orator Domitius Afer (d. A.D. 59), who held office under Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero, taught him. After his teachers death, he returned to Spain. Quintilian and the Roman Emperors: Quintilian returned to Rome with emperor-to-be Galba, in A.D. 68. In A.D. 72, he was one of the rhetoricians to receive a subsidy from Emperor Vespasian. Illustrious Pupils: Pliny the Younger was one of Quintilians students. Tacitus and Suetonius may also have been his students. He also taught Domitians two grandnephews. Public Recognition: In A.D. 88, Quintilian was made the head of the first public school of Rome, according to Jerome.Source:Quintilian on the Teaching of Speaking and Writing. Edited by James J. Murphy. 1987. Institutio Oratio: In c. A.D. 90, he retired from teaching. He then wrote his Institutio Oratoria. For Quintilian, the ideal orator or rhetorician was skilled in speaking and also a moral man (vir bonus dicendi peritus). James J. Murphy describes the Institutio Oratoria as a treatise on education, a manual of rhetoric, a readers guide to the best authors, and a handbook of the moral duties of the orator. Although much of what Quintilian writes is similar to Cicero, Quintilian emphasizes teaching. The Death of Quintilian: When Quintilian died is unknown, but it is thought to have been prior to A.D. 100. Go to other Ancient / Classical History pages on Roman men beginning with the letters: A-G | H-M | N-R | S-Z

Discuss how the credit crunch could affect corporate decision making Essay

Discuss how the credit crunch could affect corporate decision making over the next few years - Essay Example Taking the Asian example, in the years succeeding 1997, both the demand and supply were determined to have been affected by the credit crunch. Demand for credit declined as consumption and investment were sharply reduced due to uncertainty, overcapacity, weakening economic conditions, and the negative wealth effect arising from a fall in asset prices. The borrowers lost credit worthiness, which made banks reluctant to lend, even at higher interest rates. The financial system will also be affected in such a situation, resulting in the decline of supply of credit, which further weakens its demand (Lindgren, 1999, p. 24 - 25). According to Jubak (2007), in a credit crunch, lenders stop lending and credit becomes tough to obtain. Credit crunch is a crisis that feeds on fear and uncertainty. A lender can compensate for fear by raising interest rates, tightening credit standards or writing more protective covenants into the terms of a loan. But if the size of the losses is uncertain enough, lenders cant compensate for the additional risk because lenders dont know how large that risk might be. Credit crunch is characterized by extremely depressed liquidity and deteriorated balance sheet positions for households, corporations and financial institutions; sharply increased interest rates as all sectors scramble for remaining available funds; rising yield differentials as investors sell risky investments and switch to safe assets; a severely depresses stock market; and the inability of many borrowers to obtain funds at any cost (Wolfson, 1994, p. 22). The supply of funds is restricted not only because of the tight monetary policy by reducing bank reserves, but also due to smaller deposit inflows to financial institutions and reduced savings flows (Wolfson, 1994, p. 22). In order to study the causes of credit crunch, Clair and Tucker (1993) focus on the Texas banking industry and the credit crunch phase of seven years starting 1986. The authors