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An old question about power, now aimed at systems that may exceed us.
For most of history the question of good rule was a question about people: should the ruler be wise, virtuous, feared, lawful, or simply effective? Plato wanted philosopher-kings; Confucius wanted a ruler who governed by virtue as the pole star governs the heavens; Machiavelli broke with both to ask what actually keeps a prince in power. The question now extends past people. We are delegating decisions to systems, and asking how a less capable party can keep authority over a more capable one.
The thinkers this collection draws together. Full profiles live under Thinkers.
Plato
The philosopher-king: rule by those who know the good.
Confucius
Government by virtue; the ruler as moral exemplar.
Machiavelli
The prince judged by results, not by goodness.
Han Feizi
The Legalist case for rule by system and law over character.
Anchor texts, in translation, with the original where it matters. To be added.
Candidates include Plato's Republic, the Analects on governing, and Machiavelli's Prince.
Where the traditions agree, where they part, and why. In progress.
Rule by virtue, by law, or by results — and which model we are implicitly choosing when we hand power to a system.
The control problem is the ancient question of power turned upside down. Normally the stronger party sets the terms; with a capable AI, the weaker party — us — must keep authority over the stronger. Instrumental convergence warns that a goal-directed system may resist correction or shutdown as a side effect of pursuing its task. Machiavelli, Han Feizi, and Confucius each offer a different intuition about how, and whether, such power can be checked.
Terms used here, defined plainly: Control Problem · Instrumental Convergence · Superintelligence
Annotated bibliography. To be added.
Selected scholarship and translations will be listed here, each with a short note on why it earns its place.