Plato and Machiavelli
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Plato looked at the world and saw nothing but change; he wondered how it was possible to know anything at all when everything is in motion and change. Plato resolved that problem through presuming an unchanging world of intelligible Forms or Ideas of which the world is nothing but a less-than-perfect copy. Further, the best possible human state, one which may not be within reach of many people, is that of being "ruled" by the best possible human desire, namely that of knowing, and living in the light of, objective ethical truth, or the Form of the Good. Therefore, a moral life serves others in its manifestation of the best of possible human natures. In fact, he notes: "Unlimited self-assertion is not a source of strength in any association formed for a common purpose, belief, or accomplishment. Injustice will have the same effect within the individual soul, dividing a man against himself and destroying his individual unity of purpose. The various desires and impulses in a man's nature will be in conflict, if each asserts an unlimited claim to satisfaction" (The Republic, I, iv, 352).
"The Allegory of the Cave" from Part III, Chapter XXV, of The Republic is the most commonly known of the examples Plato used to make Socrates' point (or vice versa). Politicians, business leaders, modern philosophers, social scientists and more have used "The Cave" to emphasize any number of points they want to make about illusion and reality. Its opening lines declare Plato's purpose to "illustrate the degrees in which our nature may be enlightened or unenlightened...