>>509573229
the prince was a pragmatic analysis of power dynamics rather than promoting "manipulative psychology." his advice in it was about how to maintain order in a chaotic world, not to seize power.
he didn't get any personal gain or fame for it, it was published posthumously. he wrote it partly as a job application to prove his usefulness as a political advisor to the medici family.
he was not wealthy or well-connected at all when he wrote it, he was in political exile and living in poverty. it wasn't even published until after his death.
he wasn't pro-authority, he was pro-stability.
if anything, his later work discourses on livy showed he was against tyranny and promoted republicanism, liberty and civic virtues over blind obedience to authority.
>>509574272
>By the way, you don't need a god to have morality
you do if you want it to point toward an ontic referent rather than just being based on ephemeral social convention or your own subjective whims.
>Personally I measure everything with the sum of Positivity vs. Suffering.
which is completely arbitrary.
if the world wasn't created with intent and meaning then there's no right or wrong way to live your life.
the act of helping an old lady cross the street or raping her would have the same moral quality of zero from an objective perspective.