2. How important is force in the rule of the State?
Machiavelli believes "there cannot be good laws where there are not good arms, and where there are good arms, there are bound to be good laws". Machiavelli also dissents with employing mercenaries as a government force saying, "any man who founds his state on mercenaries can never be safe or secure", because "they have no other passions or incentives...except their desire for a bit of money".
3. What seems to be Machiavelli's view of human nature?
Machiavelli holds an extremely cynical view of humans creating the "general rule" saying, "they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, fearful of danger and greedy for gain". Therefore Machiavelli says that in order for the Prince to maintain control, he must be not loved nor hated, but solely feared by all citizens.
6. Contemporaries saw Machiavelli as a dangerous man. Does The Prince offer any ground for this opinion?
The opinions Machiavelli provides in The Prince certainly offer grounds for assuming Machiavelli as a dangerous man. Had Machiavelli achieved power in Italy, his reign according to his own advice to the Prince, would resemble what contemporaries would not know as Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy. The imperil government that intimidates, holds a strong nationalist army; that keeps a tight grip on its people, certainly would also resemble the frightening Roman tyrannical emperors contemporaries would have been familiar with, especially after the rise of democracy in 15th century Florence.
The Franklin's Tale begins with a love story between a noble knight named Arveragus and a beautiful noblewoman named Dorigen. The two marry, and promise to each other that they would remain faithful under all circumstances.
Soon, Arveragus goes off on a two-year journey, leaving Dorigen at home, mourning the absence of her husband. She often sat on the shore of Brittany, contemplating the dangers that confront her husband's life. While in her isolation, Aurelius, an equally courteous and handsome man, falls in love with Dorigen. When he reveals his love to her, she rejects him, sending Aurelius into a deep sadness. She tries to comfort Aurelius by saying that if he was able to remove all the stones from the shore of Brittany, she would be his, assuming that this task was beyond possible. Aurelius first tries to do this himself, but eventually hires a young magician to do the task for a large sum of money, and the task is done successfully.
Aurelius shows Dorigen that her request had been fulfilled, and she begins to weep, knowing that she had betrayed her husband. At this time, Arveragus returns and sees his weeping wife, she explains her predicament and then he allows her to go to Aurelius to fulfill her promise. Aurelius, when he heard of Arveragus's graciousness, he returned Dorigen to him. Aurelius also realised that he didn't have enough money to pay the magician, but upon hearing the story, he cancelled his debt.
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| Papal Palace at Avignon |
When Pope Clement V came to power, he set up a[n initially] temporary papal headquarters in Avignon, France. There, he also established a College of Cardinals followed by a secondary Church court. Avignon became a very popular spot for those looking to give their lives to the Church, and as more people cycled through the College, Clement V built more extensions and lavish facilities. Gradually, nearly all of the Church leaders were relocated to Avignon, and the Vatican was left abandoned.
The cardinals that arose from the College of Cardinals at Avignon were more popular among the entire Christian population due to the fact they were not tangled up in the political debuggery of the papal italian states.
Avignon declared many (and even more) power than the Vatican. They claimed the power to, but certainly not limited to, appoint candidates to clerical offices, collect all vacant and unclaimed revenues, heard all appeals of ecclesiastical courts, and more.
Because Clement V was unable to collect Church money toward building Avignon, money had to come by other means. The authorities at Avignon began using secular means (read trade and taxation) to gather funds. The papal seat gradually turned to a bureaucratic-like state, and attracted many secular business conducts.
Italians among other Christians saw the corruption at Avignon and demanded that the papal seat return to Rome. At this time Pope Gregory XI was in power, and reluctantly gave into their will. After returning to Rome, he declared the place "not fit to live in", mostly due to the fact it had abandoned for nearly a century, and began to move back to Avignon. However this move was interrupted by his death.
An italian Pope was elected next, Pope Urban VI. The cardinals, who were mostly French, still wanted to live in Avignon. Defiantly, these French cardinals moved back to Avignon without the Pope!
Through the eighteenth Canto of Inferno, Dante has experienced a long and treacherous journey. He has reached Malebolge, the eighth circle of Hell. He has trudged his way through fiery swamps and burning mud, through rivers of fire and seven circles of deafening sounds of pain. Despite how miserable this sounds, Dante is in fact in a better position than when he begun.
At the beginning of the poem, as you should recall at this point, Dante was hopelessly lost in a dark wood before Virgil came his way. Though geographically, Virgil leads Dante to a worse place, the progress Dante is making is toward an ideal place (positionally and geographically). Without the arrival of Virgil, Dante would never arrive at Paradiso.
Dante, by walking the path of the unrepentant dead, is able to not only visualise a life apart from God's offered and abundant grace, but he reflects upon the nature of his own actions and how he has been involved politically. For example, when he interacts with his political enemies in hell, Virgil encourages an attitude of neutral grace rather than vengeful arrogance.
As the reader, we are expected to follow the redemptive thoughts Dante experiences during his journey through Hell. As Florentines of his time, one is supposed to suddenly realise the corruption of Florentine (and Church!) politics and politicians, and the gradual but sure 'Decadence of Florence', as clearly explicated in Canto XVI.
Another interesting point is Virgil has lead Dante so far into Hell, that Virgil, himself, employs the help of others to further descend. For example, in order to cross into the eighth circle of hell, Virgil calls Geryon to ride.
The achievement of reaching Malebolge, meaning evil ditches: a place for those who committed sins of fraud, is quite significant. Here, in the "pit of hell", lie the fraudulent, and, as one could imagine, a great number of political and religious figures. Here, and leading up to this point, Dante makes his most apparent political thesis.
The Tale of Scheherazade is a fascinating story of two Arabian men defending their own status of manliness from the actions of their very own wives. Despite its quite simple plot and curious (especially to westerners) moral theme, this Tale of Scheherazade offers an abundance of commentary of the workings of Arabian literature in the culture it was being read.
One important element I noted in reading The Tale of Scheherazade was the emphasis put into the character descriptions and the conflicts between the characters. Interestingly, the sole source of conflicts in this story is adultery, a practice frowned down upon in many cultures, especially in Islamic Arabia. In many western stories, we see conflict between men and men, men and gods, and gods and gods. Here we have an instance of conflict between man and wife, familial bonds broken, never to be repaired. Family is an important part of all cultures, and serves a great plot twist when there are marital bonds betrayed. In Sophocles' Oresteia, family bonds are treated with just as much emphasis and are dramatised in similar degrees. As for character description, the story places heavy emphasis on the relationship of one's social status with their racial and aesthetic characteristics.
Another element that plays in the story is the immersion of religious and political law. In the story, when the wives and their lovers are caught in adultery, the natural response was capital punishment. Law appears unquestionable in this story, as the punishments dealt in the story are termed in such "matter-of-fact" words.
The last part of the narrative that I found interesting was its fairytale-esque mannerisms. The story is presented within another story. There is a mythical element to it that coordinates with the reality of the story. And most notably in Burton's translation, there is an almost "forced" rhythm and metre to it. Each of these parts reminds me of tales of Aesop and Grimm, while having the mature content and sophistry of Homer and Virgil.
2. What is the argument Augustine is making regarding the "moralities of countries and times" and "the most righteous law of almighty God"? What proofs does he use to support his claim? How convinced are you by his argumentation?
In section 13 of the third book, Augustine's begins to compare the nature of God's law with the human-written laws of nations. For Augustine, the main difference between the two is their flexibility and universality. Augustine notes that God's law "has remained unchanged everywhere and always" and that it is "not one thing in one place and something different elsewhere". God's law for the Jews and then for the Church has always been the same, no matter when or where. While there are aspects of universality among human law (e.g. murder, stealing, etc... are wrong) it is not wholly universal and accounts for the beginning of many human arguments. He compares the world's nations as a knight trying to fit armour to the appropriate appendages. This knight spends his time finding the correct placement of each piece of armour and what its purpose is rather than using it (correctly). Humans make righteousness seems as if it can be constantly sculpted to an ideal image, but in fact, God has already designed the perfect statue, all we must do is replicate it. I agree with Augustine as far as how flimsy human morality is, but I would give humanity a little more credit for having a reflection of universality. Even though we are corrupted by sin, I believe there is a degree of righteousness we innately know of.
