The Quest for Character
What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us about Our Search for Good Leaders
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
The author of How to Be a Stoic asks what might be philosophy's ultimate question: can we learn to be better people?
“Pigliucci’s expert account of ancient ethics will help us save our souls, and thereby, just maybe, save the world.”―James Romm, author of Plato and the Tyrant
Are good people born, or made? Since ancient times, the question has been of paramount importance. In the Athens of 430 BCE, Socrates set out to teach Alcibiades, who sought to lead his city, how to be a good person. Socrates failed spectacularly, and all of Athens paid the price.
In The Quest for Character, philosopher Massimo Pigliucci asks what this famous story and others, including those of Alexander, Marcus Aurelius, and Cato, can teach us today. He blends ancient sources with modern interpretations to present a philosophy of personal excellence, helping us see what we might demand of our leaders—and what we might cultivate in ourselves.
The Quest for Character reveals that being a good person is a matter of will, not simple luck. Whether we are seeking to train a philosopher kind, educate a child, or simply improve ourselves, this book reveals the essential steps on the road to an excellent life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pigliucci (How to Be a Stoic), a philosophy professor at City College of New York, examines in this enlightening study whether it's possible to get society's leaders "to care about the general welfare so that humanity may prosper not just economically and materially but also spiritually." First, he focuses on Socrates's unsuccessful efforts to teach his "friend, student, and rumored lover" Alcibiades—whose self-aggrandizing and treacherous behavior would later contribute to the downfall of Athens in the Peloponnesian War—how to be virtuous. In their dialogues, Alcibiades seems to agree with Socrates's claims that "what is just is also advantageous" and that being a good leader requires "moderation and justice," yet he cannot shake his desire for "fame and glory." Turning from this failed attempt to analyses of other interactions between philosophers and politicians (Aristotle and Alexander the Great; Seneca and Nero), Pigliucci suggests that the best way to influence others is to build one's own character ("We have a chance, and arguably a duty, to work on ourselves, to try to become at least slightly better human beings than we were yesterday") and provides a syllabus for a self-study course on "ethical self-improvement." This lucid and accessible tour through ancient philosophy offers valuable lessons for today.
