Ljudska priroda kod Machiavellija: antropološki pesimizam kao podloga političkog »realizma« ; Human Nature in Machiavelli: Anthropological Pessimism as the Basis of Political »Realism«

Abstract

O poimanju ljudske prirode u Machiavellijevu djelu možemo govoriti na dvije razine. Prva je razina njegov temeljni antropološki pesimizam. Polazna je točka Machiavellijeve političke filozofije da su ljudi po prirodi skloni zlu, što, kako navodi u Raspravama o prvoj dekadi Tita Livija, kao početnu pretpostavku mora uzeti i svaki zakonodavac. Na drugoj razini, narav je pojedinoga čovjeka po njemu bitno nepromjenjiva pa kada se ona slaže s vremenima, on uspijeva (primjer pape Julija II.), a kada je u neskladu s onim što zahtijeva kontekst, neuspjeh je neizbježan. Na nizu primjera iz Machiavellijevih djela pokazuje se da je njegov pesimistički uvid u ljudsku prirodu temelj na kojem se gradi cijela njegova politička teorija. Zlu i sebičnosti sklona ljudska priroda objašnjenje je za stvaranja zajednice, zakona i državnih institucija, ali i dinamike koja dovodi do njihovog kvarenja i propasti. ; The concept of human nature in Machiavelli's work can be discussed on two levels. The first level regards its fundamental anthropological pessimism. The starting points of Machiavelli's political philosophy is that people are inclined by nature to be evil, which, as quoted in The Discourses on Livy, must be taken as a starting assumption by every legislator. On the second level, the nature of a particular man is essentially unchangeable, and thus when it agrees with the times, he succeeds (Pope Julius II being an example), and when a man is in contradiction with what is required by the context, failure is inevitable. Many examples from Machiavelli's work show that his pessimistic insight into human nature is the foundation upon which his entire political theory is built. The human nature, prone to evil and selfishness, is the explanation for the creation of communities, laws and state institutions, but also for the dynamics that lead to their decay and destruction.