There is no doubt that Machiavelli’s The Prince was very different fro

Question

There is no doubt that Machiavelli’s The Prince was very different from other political texts of the Classical era in that it veered more towards the shrewd and pragmatic modern form of politics. However, there is sufficient proof that Machiavelli was not the creator of this political system. In fact, this system called ‘realpolitik’ or politics without principles was actually in practice long before Machiavelli’s time. Machiavelli just made this system more popular and mainstream.

One example of the use of realpolitik before Machiavelli’s time is of the evil Spanish imperial advisor Ortega Sorolla, who openly stated that the ruling emperor was to be supported at all costs and who imprisoned or executed anyone who posed a challenge to the emperor. In fact, several historians believe that Sorella actually got several exceptionally talented men secretly assassinated as he was afraid that one day they would pose a threat to the emperor’s throne.

Supporters of Machiavelli believe that power was a tangible entity, which could be reﬂected or ascertained by the size of the army that a ruler commanded. The ruler’s objective was to instill in the minds of his followers the fact that they should always think about war and how they would be victorious in one, as neglecting this could often lead to losing one’s kingdom. For Machiavelli, the truly powerful kingdoms were those that could use their money and clout to command large armies and use these armies to subjugate other kingdoms. These conquered kingdoms then deservedly became objects of ridicule and contempt.

Machiavelli’s lack of focus on the quality of governance within a state is clear from the fact that it is only as late as in chapter XII that he talks about the importance of having good laws within a state. This too seems to be an afterthought since Machiavelli pays no particular attention to the quality of these laws. He simply makes open ended statements and never really goes down to describing in detail what attributes make up a ‘good’ law.

According to Machiavelli, whatever actions a prince undertakes are with the single mined intention of gaining a good reputation in history books, even if that reputation is earned after the death of the prince. Machiavelli narrates the example of Agathocles, who rose from poverty to become the king of Syracuse by killing all those who stood in his path. This made Agathocles truly powerful in Machiavelli’s eyes. However, Machiavelli still doesn’t consider Agathocles’ achievements as perfect because, by committing the atrocities that he did commit, Agathocles only gained power but no glory. Thus, he failed to become part of the clique of famous men who had earned glory in Machiavelli’s eyes.    1 
 1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about most political theories in the Classical era?

(A) It was not favored by several important men of that time.
(B) It was considered mild and less aggressive in comparison to other political theories of that time.
(C) It was rooted more in practicality than in principles.
(D) It was eventually abandoned in favor of realpolitik countries.
(E) At least some of its tenets were not rooted in practicality.

2 
 2. Why does the author mention Chapter XII in the passage?

(A) To explain that Machiavelli never actually described what were the characteristics of a good law.
(B) To show that Machiavelli considered arms superior to laws.
(C) To highlight the low level of importance Machiavelli assigned to the presence of good laws in a state.
(D) To prove that good governance never formed a part of Machiavelli’s teachings.
(E) To explain how Machiavelli was only concerned with the presence of laws, not with their quality.

3 
 3. Which of the following assertions would Machiavelli most likely agree with?

i. There is nothing wrong in showing contempt towards those who have lost in battle.
ii. The king should perform only two functions—fight good wars and make good laws.
iii. A ruler who committed atrocities would still gain glory as long as he won wars.

(A) i only
(B) iii only
(C) i and iii only
(D) ii and iii only
(E) i and ii only

4 
 4. Which of the following is a point of similarity between Sorolla and Machiavelli?

(A) Both of them believed in the supreme position of the emperor.
(B) Both of them believed that victory in war was paramount, no matter at what cost it came.
(C) Both of them believed that maintaining a strong and able army was more important than making good laws.
(D) Both of them believed that it was acceptable to go to any lengths in the single-minded pursuit of one’s goal.
(E) Both of them were a creation of the initial monopoly of the Classical political theory.

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 266 Date: 06-Jul-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

kantapong · Answer

Passage Summary:
P1: M does not create 'realpolitik', just make this system more popular
P2: early example of realpolitik (before M): Spanish OS
P3: Supporters of M believe that power is tangible, so we can use money to conquer other kingdom
P4: M lacks focus in "quality of governance" (=good law)
P5: whatever a prince does is to gain reputation
(Overall, it is not just claiming what the author proposed in P1, but it is like narrating the thoughts of M with supporting examples)

Q1 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about most political theories in the Classical era?
Ans: From P1, M veered toward more shrewd and pragmatic modern form. So, other forms must be less shrewd or less pragmatic.
A. not favored (no info about favor or not)
B. ... than other political theories (we do not have info about other political theories)
C. rooted in more practicality (opposite)
D. abandoned in favor of realpolitik (go too far; it does not say that they were abandoned)
E. some tenets were not rooted in practicality (YES)
Ans: E

Q2: Why does the author mention Chapter XII in the passage?
Ans: It is P4, so to show that M does not focus much on good law
A. Never described ... (opposite: actually describe in that chapter)
B. arms superior to law (law is not focused does not mean arms are more superior than law)
C. highlight low level of ... (KEEP)
D. good governance never formed ... in teachings (we talked about books, not teachings)
E. ... only concerned with presence of laws, not with quality (No because in earlier chapter, the author said good law, but have not defined until that chapter, so M also concerns about quality, just not specify what makes up good law)
Ans: C

Q3 infer (very challenging question in my opinion)
i. There is nothing wrong in showing contempt towards those who have lost in battle.
-> deservedly became objects of contempt (yes especially when we say that power is tangible)
ii. The king should perform only two functions—fight good wars and make good laws.
-> no info about what roles king should perform
iii. A ruler who committed atrocities would still gain glory as long as he won wars.
-> in last paragraph, by committing atrocities, A got power, but not glory. (false)
My answer is A. (not sure!)

Q4 Sorolla (OS) and M similarities: same realpolitik system (politics without principles)
(A) Both of them believed in the supreme position of the emperor.
-> The author uses OS emperor just for example of the use of system, not about supreme position of emperor
(B) Both of them believed that victory in war was paramount, no matter at what cost it came.
-> no info about OS in that respect in P2
(C) Both of them believed that maintaining a strong and able army was more important than making good laws.
-> YES: for OS, ruling emperor must be supported at all costs (meaning more important than anything else, including good laws)
For M, he assigned low importance in making good laws, but said that we can use money to conquer others and they deserve contempt, so his priority lies on strong army rather than making good laws
(D) Both of them believed that it was acceptable to go to any lengths in the single-minded pursuit of one’s goal.
-> Even though I think OS agrees, but M disagrees because M said that the ones who did this (like A) does not deserve glory, so he would disagree with this.
(E) Both of them were a creation of the initial monopoly of the Classical political theory.
-> Initial monopoly of Classical political theory: what does that mean? Since the passage does not talk about how this theory lies among all other theories, just stating that it is different from others. I do not think this is correct.
My ans: C

Ps1810 · Answer

Took me 9mins and got 75% of them correct. I will try to give my best shot to exaplain!

Q1 - I got it wrong would really appreciate if someone can help out here.

Q2 - It was pretty straight forward and was stated in the passage pretty clearly. - Machiavelli’s lack of focus on the quality of governance within a state is clear from the fact that it is only as late as in chapter XII that he talks about the importance of having good laws within a state

Q3 - Pure game of elimination - 2nd option is not mentioned, to be precise the good laws part is not stated anywhere.
-3rd option is something that is clearly refuted in the last few lines of the rc.
So, we are only left with 1st, which is the answer.

Q4 - wen with elimination as well -
(A) Both of them believed in the supreme position of the emperor. - OS did but M we don't know since, it is not stated in the passage.
(B) Both of them believed that victory in war was paramount, no matter at what cost it came. - M certainly doesn't believe in this. which can be seen in the last few lines of the passage.
(C) Both of them believed that maintaining a strong and able army was more important than making good laws. - Neither of them believed in this. Only M believed in maintaining strong army not OS.
(D) Both of them believed that it was acceptable to go to any lengths in the single-minded pursuit of one’s goal. - Both had a pursuit and we can see both went to lengths to achieve that OS freakin killed ppl & M won and conquered kingdoms after kingdoms. let's keep this for now
(E) Both of them were a creation of the initial monopoly of the Classical political theory. - M made it popular but was not the creation of it. so out of the way
We are left with only D.

Please correct me if i screwed somehwhere!!
Thanks in advance!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about most political theories in the Classical era?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

(A)  Not stated anywhere in the passage.

(B)  Not stated anywhere in the passage.

(C)  Is true of realpolitik and not of Classical theory.

(D)  There’s nothing in the passage to suggest that the Classical theory was eventually abandoned.

(E)  The opening sentence of the passage states that realpolitik was more shrewd and pragmatic (practical) than the Classical political theory. Thus, it can be concluded that at least some of the tenets of the Classical theory were not rooted in practicality.

Answer: E

VerbalBot · Answer

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There is no doubt that Machiavelli’s The Prince was very different fro

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