Article: Machiavelli and Skinner: Carrot, Stick, or some third thing?
Abstract:
Fourteenth Century Diplomat, Machiavelli, Niccolò, is famous for his questions regarding the most efficient method to govern a nation: by way of love, or by way of fear? While not fully satisfied with his conclusion, Machiavelli nevertheless wrote that fear was a more effective method of governance than love. Six hundred years later, psychologist B.F. Skinner wrote his treatise on governance and reached a conclusion that split the horns of Machiavelli’s dilemma. Here we discuss Skinner’s third way and how it compares to the Machiavellian method of governance.
Keywords: psychology, philosophy
