Onko parempi olla rakastettu kuin pelätty?

Författare

• Pirkko Haapanen

Abstract

Perhaps as a playwright and not a politician Machiavelli put into the title of the 17th chapter of The Prince the idea that it is better to be loved than feared, an idea which had bearing on both ancient and contemporary writings. Even when dramatized, the question is serious. Machiavelli deals with basic political questions (authority beliefs; power base; effective means) when he uses vocabularies of »love» and »fear». But he describes the roles of those feelings, as such, neither very clearly nor convincingly. Machiavellit explicit argument in favour of fear is noticeably deficient in the 17th chapter of The Prince. He does not give sufficient emphasis to those elements which are in favour of love. On the other hand, his writings indicate that a one-sided policy of fear is not possible.