Sunday, March 27, 2016

single word requests - What's an eponymous adjective that is an antonym of Machiavellian?




REVISED QUESTION



Is there an eponymous adjective with equivalent cultural weight and recognition that could be considered an antonym of Machiavellian? I am after the basic idea of an adjective that describes a person who leads or influences others in ways that elicit cooperation and admiration with a Machiavellian person who may use fear as a motivator for desirable outcomes. So, the dichotomy I'm interested in here is **loved leader who elicits cooperation vs. feared leader who wields power in a more ruthless way. The idea is that both people are effective leaders.



In a way, I am interested in the fact that Machiavelli and his eponymous adjective are so poorly understood, but bear such cultural significance and
negative connotation. I wanted to know what the antonym of Machiavellian was from the point of view of people who answer my questions, but also whether the positive eponymous adjectives have similar cultural heft.







Original Question and Addenda




Is there an eponymous adjective, i.e.based on a person's or
literary character's name, that is the opposite of Machiavellian
that refers to a person who behaves unselfishly with good
intention and collaboration in clear, open ways?




Machiavellian is an eponymous adjective used to describe a person or behavior that is underhanded, manipulative, unscrupulous and interested in one's own benefit, despite appearances to the contrary. Merriam Webster has similar definition, provides example sentences and explains the origin of the adjective from Niccolo Machiavelli's name.




I am interested in a word that is not confined to politics, but might be more general. I have consulted lists of eponymous adjectives including this one. I have also searched on EL&U past questions and could not find any that ask or answer my question. I would prefer an adjective with gravitas that conveys a sense of efficacy through open, collaborative, generous behavior. Think of different style of bosses in a small institution or business settings.




Example sentences:



Jesse employs Machiavellian tactics and really fools the team into believing that they have made a group decision for the benefit of all. The team has good success, it's true, but only people with a certain kind of mentality seem to stay.



Alex, on the other hand, displays __________ intention,
honesty and candor in leadership of the team. Most people prefer to work on Alex's team and can point to examples of both team and individual success.





Addendum:



NB: As pointed out in comments, I am using Machiavellian in its contemporary usage. I understand that scholars and many educated people think this is a misrepresentation of Machiavelli.



Addendum 2



While I figure out whether to edit the question to ask for an eponymous adjective that describes behavior that is unselfish, collaborative, open and effective, you have a few choices:





  1. Give eponymous adjectives that make sense to you and are interesting to you. Please post them as answers. All the comments have been good ones.


  2. Continue to educate me on the flaws in my question. Consider me on the way to fuller awareness of my ignorance in relation to the word, Machiavellian, and perhaps a remedy to that.


  3. My emerging understanding is that the main contrast I am after is competitive behavior that is manipulative and hidden vs. collaborative behavior that is more transparently aimed at goals reached by concensus.



Answer



Note, the present nuance of the question is:






Indeed, really the only one I can think of is Churchill, or possibly Gandhi (but Gandhi is just so different, not an "opposite").



I can't really think of any, at all, historical, classical figures who are a trope for "good, decent politics" (which is pretty disappointing!) Maybe Elizabeth 1, and that's a stretch.






Might as well throw in an answer, I'd go with






Obvious, right?



Why is it a good possible choice?



It occurred to me: quite simply, among "negative" eponymous adjectives ... quite simply, the most well-known "negative" eponymous adjective, in the political milieu, is indeed Machiavellian.



So....



among "positive" eponymous adjectives ... quite simply the most well-known "positive" eponymous adjective, in the political milieu, is indeed .... Churchillian.




If you were trying to explain to a 6 year old Machiavellian, you'd really just say ......... "bad". (Subtleties like "scheming", "devilishly clever" etc wouldn't be relevant at the simplest level of definition of Machiavellian.) Similarly for Churchill, plain "good".



So Machiavelli - very basic "bad" trope, Churchill, very basic "good" trope.



On the "good" side, the only other political figures for 5000 years I can think of that are a basic trope of "good" is "Gandi-esque" (but he was just a completely different type of political figure, it doesn't fit), and maybe Good King Wenceslas. (Kind of a damming commentary on 5000 years of leaders!)



(On the evil side you have "Hitler", "Mao", "Stalin" (way to go, 20th century, just lovely) and, really, a broad choice of historical figures :O )






Nicely, Churchill and Machiavelli were the same type of thing ...



They were both "real politicians", both "real operators", both central to Language and writing, both gambled at Monaco, married beautiful Americans, drank Scotch all day, greatest orators, etc - but, nicely, Churchill was a "good" guy (for the six-year old explanation); Machiavelli a "bad" guy (for the six-year old explanation).



Note that, say, "Hitleristic" is not an antonym to "Churchillian" - they're just totally different sorts of things. Churchill was just an ordinary politician, with good and bad speeches; Hitler of course was a despotic madman.



Similarly, for an antonym to "Machiavellian" you wouldn't say "Christ-like" or "Buddha-like" - it's just a whole different thing.



So again - let us say, almost setting aside the very subtle shades of meaning, "Machiavellian" is simply the outright most-used negative ("most infamous") political eponymous adjective; Churchillian is the most-used positive ("most positively famous") political eponymous adjective.




So in many ways it's a good choice - it's the "trope choice" if you will.



Does it pass the sitcom test? Yes; "George is acting rather Churchillian today, Kramer." "More like Machiavellian, Jerry!"


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