Title: Confucius, Machiavelli and Rousseau: Studies in Contrast
1Confucius, Machiavelli and RousseauStudies in
Contrast
- Presented by Group 6
- Klaus , Alison C, and Qing
2Outline
- Purpose
- View of basic human nature
- Sources of power and authority
- Society structure and governance model
- Contemporary evidences
- Applicability
- Point of views
- Confucius
- Machiavelli
- Rousseau
- Conclusion
3Confucius
- Born in a turbulent time
- Warring states
- Dissipated authority
- A time of great intellectual activities
- Aristocratic family reduced to poverty
- A philosopher, not a religious leader
- Humanistic
- Rational
- Moralistic
4Basic Human Nature
- Born to be benevolence
- To love all men
- Virtue
- Gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity,
earnestness, and kindness - By nature, men are nearly alike by practice,
they get to be wide apart
5Source of Power and Authority
- Prefect virtue vs. shame
- Rites
- Lead them with excellence and put them in their
place through roles and ritual practices, and in
addition to developing a sense of shame, they
will order themselves harmoniously
6Societal and Organizational Structure and
Governance
- Government by personal virtue
- Reciprocity
- to govern others one must first govern oneself
- Loyalty and Filial Piety
- Obligation to the rulers
- Duties in family lineage
7Contemporary Views of Confucius
- A perfect gentleman
- Virtue and moral
- Humaneness
- Concerned with individual development
- Outdated
- Rituals
- Blind obedience to rulers / structure
- Promote corruption (relationships vs. laws)
8More Tidbits on Confucius
- When I walk with along with two others, they may
serve me as my teachers. - A man can enlarge the principles which he
follows those principles do not enlarge the man. - Choose a job you love and you will never have to
work a day in your life. - No matter where you go, there you are.
9Niccolo Machiavelli
- Cunning, duplicity and utter ruthlessness in
politics - Role as ambassador exposed him to politics
- 'Prince' dealt with acquisition and maintenance
of power
10Basic Human Nature
- Remains constant over time
- Essentially evil and self-serving
- Best friends during good times can quickly
disappear in times of adversity
11Source of Power and Authority
- Fortune, virtue, force
- Support of the people or the great
- Ability to capitalize on opportunity
- Ability to manipulate the people and their
perceptions
12Societal and Organizational Structure and
Governance
- Support of the people more important than the
great - Avoid middle managers as they can turn against
you - Dictatorship with no governance is preferred.
13Truth or Falsity of Machiavelli's Views
- Availability of information may render some views
obsolete - Global politics reduce risk of 'nice' leaders
being overthrown - Global economics exert pressure on leaders to be
'nice' to their populace
14More Tidbits on Machiavelli
- Being nice often leads to failure
- Evil is ok to achieve a goal
- Bundle evil into short period of time so people
forget sooner - Better to be feared than loved
- Better to appear to be faithful, merciful, humane
and honest that actually be those things.
15Jean- Jacques Rousseau
16Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Swiss Philosopher
- 1712 1778
- Lived during the Age of Enlightenment
- Turbulent personal life
- Brilliant contributions in music, political
theory, philosophy and literature
17Basic Human Nature
- Sees people as basically good
- Rousseau contended that man was good by nature, a
noble savage when in state of nature, but was
corrupted by society and institutions. - Famous quote Man is born free, but is
everywhere in chains
18Source of Power and Authority
- Positions of leadership are decided through
election - The leader has legitimate power (i.e. unanimous
consent by the people)
19Societal and Organizational Structure and
Governance
- Most of his ideas in this area come from his
work entitled The Social Contract - An ideal society is one in which a mans contract
is between himself and his fellow man, not
between he and a government. - A perfect society would be controlled by the
general will of the populace.
20Contemporary Views of Rousseau
- Rousseau revered spontaneity and emotion over
artifice and reason. - He sought to restore a proper respect for the
creativity and worth of individual human beings. - This ties in well with current thinking about
level three leadership. - Rousseau felt that human beings are basically
good. If a contemporary leader shares this belief
it will influence his/her leadership style.
21Conclusion
- Contrasted Point of View
- Various levels of leadership concepts
- VABEs
- Morality, ethics, and legality
- Behavior guidance
- Models of humaneness, society, governance
- Lead by influence
- Lead by example
22Questions