As we have already said, each month we’re going to post questions that may appear in the Diplomatic Career exams, through #QuizCD in our social networks, Facebook and Twitter specifically.
This month, the formula was as follows: “The word «State» was first theorized by…”. Our followers had to choose between: Machiavelli, Marx, Bodin or Hobbes.
Is the answer with more votes the correct one?
The word “State” was formulated for the first time by the philosopher Nicolás Machiavelli (1469-1527), who is considered the creator of the modern term of “State”.
The origin of this modern “State” comes from the Late Middle Ages, a time in which a slow process of concentration of political power in the hands of the King began to be generated, in the detriment of the feudal lords. The process has just taken shape in the Modern Age (since the 15th century) with the creation of national monarchies such as the Spanish, French or British.
The theorization of “State” appears in The Prince (1513). For Machiavelli a State had to guarantee a social order that restrained human violence, hereafter the well-known affirmation of the author: “Is the end that justifies the means”.
Machiavelli had a special conception of human society: for him, humanity had a perverse and selfish nature, only concerned for his safety and for increasing his power over others. For this reason, the philosopher considered that the State should be strong, governed by a cunning prince and without moral scruples, that could guarantee a just social order that would curb violence.
Bodin and Hobbes lived in a time closer to Machiavelli; however, Marx was born in an era much later than this definition of State.
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