When philosopher kings become princes

My aim in this paper is to compare Plato???s theory of justice with Machiavelli???s theory of\ud justice. I am hopeful that having a comparative textual analysis of Plato???s Republic and\ud Machiavelli???s The Prince will illustrate that both theories of justice, in practice, are more\ud similar than they are often given credit for. This, of course, is contrary to the status quo\ud that focuses on the disparities between the two political theories. While most scholars\ud separate Plato???s political idealism from Machiavelli???s political realism, my paper\ud attempts to bridge the two political theorists. In my paper, I point out the importance that\ud both authors give to the role of deception and dishonesty in ruling a city