be<\/em>. The greater good, thought the former, lay in what you actually were rather than in what others thought you were. Loser talk, thought the latter.<\/p>\nCicero\u2019s tenet was consistent with Aristotle, who said the more valuable of two things is that which men would be satisfied only with possessing outright, rather than that which they would be satisfied with only appearing to possess.<\/p>\n
Health, therefore, is valued higher in this scheme than courage, since we want to be truly healthy rather than only seem to be so and we\u2019re pretty satisfied with only appearing to be courageous.<\/p>\n
Regardless of such distinctions of actual worth, Machiavelli saw that power lay in the ostensible as much as it did in the actual, and with far less cost.<\/p>\n
The healthy man can run as many marathons as he wants. While he\u2019s doing that, the apparently courageous man will accede to the throne of the fiefdom\u2014as long as he also appears to be healthy, intelligent, charming, etc.<\/p>\n
The people are suckers for that stuff, Machiavelli did not say, but could have.<\/p>\n
Cicero\u2019s view is classical, noble, honor-bound. Machiavelli\u2019s is modern, practical, streetwise.<\/p>\n
Cicero died by execution. Marc Antony, his political enemy, cut off his head and hands and nailed them up in the forum. Machiavelli had a rather less bloody end. Cicero isn\u2019t read much anymore, outside of courses in the classics, but everybody reads The Prince.<\/em><\/p>\nThe total triumph of Machiavelli\u2019s view, even among those who have never heard of him, can be witnessed in the image maintenance undergone by those in both the public and private sphere.<\/p>\n
Instead of championing classical virtues, we advocate persona, aura, impression. It\u2019s all in the presentation\u2014in the PR\u2014in the spin. We\u2019ve even changed the way we talk about virtues, and even changed what we aspire to achieve.<\/p>\n
For example, seldom is the idea of temperance put forward or cultivated anymore\u2014i.e., the ability to meet both fortune and ruin with equilibrium. Instead, in trying situations, we\u2019re cautioned to \u201cnever let them see you sweat.\u201d<\/p>\n
But while it would seem the two are the same thing\u2014and indeed an outward showing of fortitude may in fact be evidence of an inward investment of courage (a distinctly different virtue)\u2014it\u2019s more likely that the modern counsel lies in the way of putting on a show:<\/p>\n
Even if you\u2019re torn up inside, don\u2019t give the world the satisfaction of knowing that you are.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s clearly not the same thing as temperance; it\u2019s a semblance, not a reality, and the only victory lies in the worldly scheme of power against power, not in the advancement of the soul.<\/p>\n
The virtue of humility is another example of this confusion. Classically, the merit lies in a detachment from worldly appraisals and honorifics\u2014a \u201cpoverty of the spirit,\u201d as it used to be called.<\/p>\n
Like the states of contrition and piety, humility is an inward condition that can only be verified by the possessor (and God, of course). But now humility is oddly mistaken for its converse\u2014the outward show of want.<\/p>\n
It would seem to go without saying that humble circumstances, though they can<\/em> lead to the state of humility, need not do so. Nevertheless, nowadays they\u2019re offered as direct and convincing evidence of the same. Conversely, while earthly means may make the condition harder to achieve, they do not frustrate it entirely, nor are they direct evidence of its lack.<\/p>\nNotice how many politicians begin their campaigns with involved encomiums to their working class backgrounds. They do so because it\u2019s effective; we identify the thing by its semblance. Incontrovertible proof\u2014endless stories of modesty and countless tales of an unassuming nature\u2014cannot earn the wealthy man this badge.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth remembering that the classical mind also had a deep appreciation for how things looked. The orator\u2019s ethos<\/em>\u2014his credibility and authority as a speaker\u2014was one of Aristotle\u2019s three modes of persuasion. Still, another distinction presents itself. Ethos<\/em> is not at all what we now call charisma.<\/p>\nEthos <\/em>belongs to a speaker by way of what he truly is<\/em>\u2014what he truly possesses<\/em>. His outward character must be a reflection of his inward self. In contrast, charisma is only that which the speaker exudes; it is the shape of the man, but not the substance.<\/p>\nI don\u2019t see things swinging back to Cicero\u2019s way any time soon. As a culture, we\u2019ve bought in to the other franchise in a big way. Why sift for a man\u2019s true nature when his persona is so very appealing?<\/p>\n
But appearances are deceiving, they say. And it depends on how you look at it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cicero said that it is better to be than to seem. Some fifteen centuries later, Machiavelli said it was better to seem than to be. The greater good, thought the former, lay in what you actually were rather than in what others thought you were. Loser talk, thought the latter. Cicero\u2019s tenet was consistent with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1049,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[225,226,129],"class_list":["post-2021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-g-harmon","tag-cicero","tag-machiavelli","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Cicero said that it is better to be<\/em> than to seem<\/em>. Some fifteen centuries later, Machiavelli said it was better to seem<\/em> than to be<\/em>. The greater good, thought the former, lay in what you actually were rather than in what others thought you were. Loser talk, thought the latter.<\/p>\n