Why do men love power, and how should it be checked?

OCR: 7 cited passage(s) are machine-read (OCR) text of old printings; quotations reproduce the stored OCR text, misreadings included.

1. WHAT THEY SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• BELIEF (undated): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believe that men pursue power out of ambition, pride, covetousness, and revenge, and that such men measure opinions by their own interests and passions. They argue that power should be checked by promoting virtue and truth, and by educating the laity to resist the pretensions of the clergy and other power-seeking groups. "Such open Blunders, and glaring Inconsistencies, must these Men be reduced to, who measure all Opinions by their present Interest and Passions; and who have no other Standard of Right and Wrong, but what most gratifies their Ambition, Pride, Covetousness, or Revenge." [1]
• BELIEF (undated): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') argue that power, whether temporal or ecclesiastical, cannot be limited without taking it away, and that any restriction implies the right to remove it entirely. They believe that the idea of divine right for bishops is inconsistent with Protestant establishments and that such power must be checked by civil authority. (key quote above) [2]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') argue that absolute monarchy is irrational and unsustainable because it assumes either that all acts of power come directly from the monarch's will (which is implausible) or that the monarch personally directs everything (which is unrealistic). They believe that such power is unchecked and leads to tyranny, with the ruler acting on whims, lust, or rage, and having the authority to rob or kill without accountability. [3]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that men in power, particularly princes and their ministers, often abuse their authority for revenge, profit, or fame, leading to destructive wars and oppressive measures. They argued that unchecked power allows ministers to manipulate the prince and the people, growing rich at the people's expense and using royal authority to justify and protect their oppression. They viewed the power of princes as often being merely a tool for the intrigues and ambitions of their ministers. [4]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believe that all men are naturally fond of making a figure in the world and aspire to rise above others, driven by self-love and hope. They argue that this ambition, while not inherently bad, can lead to public and private evils such as wars, frauds, cruelty, and oppression. They suggest that power should glide down 'an even and easy Channel with a gentle and regular Descent,' rather than fall with 'dreadful Din, Rapidity, and Violence' as in absolute monarchy. [5]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that men love power because they seek to place themselves in positions where they can depend on the pleasure of those in power, and that absolute monarchs especially tend to appoint such men. They argued that this leads to corruption and that those managing free governments must oppose it to preserve liberty and virtue. [6]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that men love power because they are naturally self-interested and prioritize their own advantage or pleasure over the good of others. They argued that power should be checked by laws and force, as these are the only means to prevent the malice and rapine of individuals. [7]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that men love power for personal ambition and to satisfy their own desires, and that such men cannot be trusted to wield power with humility or moderation. They argued that power, if unchecked, leads to violence, war, and the destruction of liberty and property. "But alafs ! it is as old as Men : And every Country upon Earth, that has been undone, has been undone to fatiate the Ambition of one, or a few, who aimed at Feizing or extending Power." [8]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that men love power because they are driven by self-interest and self-love, and that power allows them to achieve personal advantage. To check this, they argued that a constitution should not place excessive trust in any individual or group, as this leads to tyranny and oppression. Instead, justice and equality should be preserved through laws and mutual interest, ensuring that power is constrained by rules that are good and penal to deviate from. "This is their great Aim ; and that Conftirution which trufts more than it needs to any Man, or Body of Men, has a terrible Flaw in it, and is big with the Seeds of its own Deftru&ion." [9]
• BELIEF (1733): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believe that men's love for power is driven by passion and prejudice, not by reason or true religion. They argue that this passion leads people to support vicious individuals within their own community and to mistreat pious individuals outside of it. This suggests that power should be checked to prevent such passions from corrupting guidance and causing oppression. "That it is not Religion or Christianity, but chiefly, if not only, Passion and Prejudice, which determine Men to a Fondness for their own Set of Notions and for their own Community..." [10]

What cuts against it

• The contrary-evidence entries are already in the record ledger above: [1], [2], [3], [4], [10].

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. Trenchard and Gordon ("Cato") believed that men love power due to ambition, self-interest, and the desire to rise above others, as stated in [11] and [5].

2. They argued that unchecked power leads to tyranny and oppression, as seen in [12] and [6].

3. To check power, they advocated for laws and constitutional limits to prevent abuse, as mentioned in [12] and [9].

4. They emphasized the importance of public virtue and education to resist corrupt power, as noted in [1] and [10].

5. However, they also acknowledged the difficulty of limiting power without removing it entirely, as stated in [2], which introduces a tension in their reasoning.

3. THEIR TAKE

Record coverage: DIRECT

Extrapolation: Trenchard and Gordon ("Cato") believed that men love power due to ambition, self-interest, and the desire for personal advantage. They argued that power should be checked through laws, constitutional limits, and public virtue to prevent tyranny and oppression.

Competing readings: The record shows a tension between the belief that power must be checked through laws and the acknowledgment that such checks may imply the right to remove power entirely.

Confidence: Moderate. The record provides direct statements on the causes of men's love for power and the need for checks, but the competing readings reflect a nuanced view on the practicality of those checks.