ss. Another philosopher of our first semester that would have to agree with Jefferson is Aristotle. Unlike his teacher, Plato, Aristotle believed in the senses and also felt happiness was, what he called, one of the goods. We think happiness is the most choiceworthy of all goods (Nicmachean Ethics: Bk1 ch.7). As you know, Aristotle differed from Plato by the fact that Aristotle said the senses were all we had. He felt that since happiness was derived from the senses, people would need to be happy to feel good or feel pleasure. But the pursuit of happiness is not the only section of the Declaration that the early philosophers agreed with. Another major point in the Declaration of Independence is that the people must be prudent to know when to change the government. If the government should change in a way to threaten the people and their security, they must have good judgment to choose another system of administration that will provide safety and happiness. Like us, Machiavelli feels that prudence is a major factor in government. He tells us that one never seeks to avoid one trouble without running into another; but prudence consists in knowing how to distinguish the character of troubles, and for choice to take the lesser evil (The Prince ch.21). It is apparent that Machiavelli knew governments would never remain perfect. It was his opinion that the people should help run the government and when they felt in danger, the people would change the government to feel safer. He also realized that trouble was inevitable. And that our government would encounter numerous troubles, but for us to succeed, we needed to be observant, patient, and prudent to choose the path with the lesser danger. It is amazing how close these two authors, Machiavelli and Jefferson, think. Apparently, Machiavelli would have no bad words about Thomas Jeffersons Declaration of Independence.This document written back on July 4th, 1776 is one of our most ...
