Roush 1Human nature is made up of many different things, from the choices a person makes and how they feel about making these choices, to how they think when these choices are made by them. In the world of political philosophy there have been many different opinions on this very topic. The views of philosophers such as Machiavelli, Locke, Plato, and Rousseau all attempt to provide the best understanding of human nature. All of these philosophers are intelligent and have worked hard to prove their work on human nature, but they all have a different understanding of what the truest meaning of this actually is. In the book The Prince, Machiavelli does an exceptional job of portraying what human nature really is. Man is selfish according to Machiavelli and I believe this is the truest of all philosophies on human nature, in this essay I will develop an argument that supports why Machiavelli has the most correct understanding of human nature by breaking down his book and also comparing it to John Locke and his book The Second Treatise on Government. Although both views of human nature between Locke and Machiavelli have many similarities, I will demonstrate that Machiavelli has the truer account of this philosophy. The Prince has been known as the most famous book written in politics, even today this book comes out as exciting as five hundred years ago. This book is one of the first scientific treatments of politics. Machiavelli seems to think that a good society is based on a good army. This is the first topic I will address in this essay. He believes that a good army will make good laws that will forcefully govern a society. In The Prince Machiavelli writes “the presence of a sound… in the center of the paper… being ambitious can be rewarding. Roush 5 When it comes to governing Locke and Machiavelli have somewhat similar views having one person in power and if they don't do what they should for a state then they should be overthrown. Although Locke says that the ruler should seek the betterment of the state and Machiavelli says that people tend to think of themselves. I think Machiavelli has the truer idea of ​​what really happens, especially in modern society, and that Locke's idea is a better, but not truer, description of human nature. To conclude, I wrote this essay to state which philosopher I thought had the power of truest understanding of human natureWorks CitedLocke, J. (1690). Second Government Treaty. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing House. Machiavelli, N. (1998). The prince. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.