You'll find a plethora of videos out there applying both The Art of War and The Prince to today's world for self-improvement purposes. This video was actually inspired by a clip from The Sopranos where Tony Soprano himself compares these two works and how they play into his life. Therefore, I've decided to compare these two philosophical texts to determine which is better for modern everyday people for the purpose of achieving their goals.
I decided to judge these works based on three criteria: 1) general readability, 2) modern day applicability, and 3) morality.
I chose to explore each texts potential effect on one's moral conscious because, generally speaking, we're more likely to follow advice we consider to be morally good rather than morally bad, regardless of the practicability of the advice. Upon comparing the two, I believe The Art of War offers more moral advice than The Prince.
Although The Art of War is about conflict, it emphasizes a need to prevent or end conflict quickly. It recognizes the horrors of war and this conflict avoidance makes it rather moral in my opinion.
This is contrasted with The Prince where there are hints of morally acceptable behavior like avoiding hatred, however, Machiavelli's section on appearing moral while being prepared to do immoral acts left a bad taste in my mouth.
Overall I come to the conclusion that the Art of War is the better philosophy book for self-improvement purposes for the modern day person, but I'd love to hear any disagreements.
#philosophy #artofwar #machiavelli
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28 май 2024
