The dawn of modern political thought marks a profound rupture from the classical traditions of thinkers like Plato and Aristotle, who intertwined governance with moral virtue, natural law, and the pursuit of the common good. In contrast, Niccolò Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes usher in an era where politics is stripped of ethical imperatives, prioritizing raw power and order over idealistic principles.
Machiavelli’s vision of government, as outlined in his seminal works, rejects any binding moral law; the ruler is free to employ any means—deception, cruelty, or force—to seize and sustain authority, viewing power not as a tool for justice but as an end unto itself. Similarly, Hobbes conceives the State as an absolute Leviathan, born from humanity’s escape from a chaotic state of nature, where individuals surrender all rights except self-preservation, leaving no space for divine mandates or inherent natural rights. For both philosophers, the State’s legitimacy derives not from a duty to foster communal flourishing but from the primal fear of anarchy or tyrannical rule, ensuring submission through coercion rather than ethical harmony.
This shift lays the foundation for a secular politics that would influence all authoritarian governments, especially the radical left (with Gramsci) and radical statists (with Mussolini), forever altering the landscape of political philosophy.
