Naturalism, which goes hand in hand with atheism, is the belief that all truth is derived from a study of natural processes. All action is based on natural instincts and desires. Only the natural elements of the world are taken into account, the supernatural or spiritual is excluded. Machiavelli's most influential work, The Prince , was significant because it helped to mold modern minds and, in turn, modern history. Hobbes, although heavily influenced by the ideas of Machiavelli, was also influenced by the revived Epicurean ideas of pleasure.
Epicurean philosophy is centered around the goal of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.
Thomas Hobbes developed the idea of good being what we like and evil what we dislike, as well as the idea that self-preservation is achieved through the sovereign state. In Hobbes we can trace the merging of Machiavelli's power ethics philosophy with the Epicurean philosophy of pleasure. From this group came the power politics of men like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini. In fact, Hitler personally presented a copy of Nietzsche's works to Benito Mussolini, and Mussolini submitted a thesis on Machiavelli for his doctor's degree. There is a need to take a much closer look at the ideas espoused by Nietzsche, since he became the primary influencer of two divergent world views or paradigms, both antagonistic toward the Jews and both responsible for the murder of countless millions of innocent people.