Arendt and Machiavelli

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Hannah Arendt came up with her thoughts on ideologies, and to be more specific, those associated with Nazi ideology and the totalitarian state. It looks at how Arendt often associated the Nazi ideology with terror and saw no justification in why the Nazis used their beliefs for their appalling rein over society. In comparison, it examines how Machiavelli, a writer in the 1500s, had thoughts of his own, some dealing with how a prince should rule and the characteristics one should have to be a successful ruler.

From the Paper:

"Arendt discusses how Nazis associate terror with totalitarianism and why they coincide together. She believes that terror is a way of how totalitarian governments work and suggests that this is how they enforce their way of life on society. In this type of society either people are with the movement and are educated or are against their ideology and viewed as ignorant and a threat to society. This gave Nazis the power they needed to kill people at will with no opposition. They used terror as a way to suppress the masses to conform to their ideology. They related their ideas to a scientific way of thinking and made people see that their ideology had merit and made sense to continuing the existence of the human race. They used propaganda as a way of instilling their beliefs and discrediting any other form of thinking or reasoning."

More papers on Arendt and Machiavelli:

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• Comparison Essay # 70153 : "Hobbes and Machiavelli"
• Comparison Essay # 4465 : "What is Political Power?"

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