The Quest for Character: What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us about Our Search for Good Leaders

by Massimo Pigliucci

Overview

The author of How to Be a Stoic asks what might be philosophy's ultimate question: can we learn to be better people?  

Is good character something that can be taught? In 430 BCE, Socrates set out to teach the vain, power-seeking Athenian statesman Alcibiades how to be a good person—and failed spectacularly. Alcibiades went on to beguile his city into a hopeless war with Syracuse, and all of Athens paid the price.  

In The Quest for Character, philosophy professor Massimo Pigliucci tells this famous story and asks what we can learn from it. He blends ancient sources with modern interpretations to give a full picture of the philosophy and cultivation of character, virtue, and personal excellence—what the Greeks called arete. At heart, The Quest for Character isn’t simply about what makes a good leader. Drawing on Socrates as well as his followers among the Stoics, this book gives us lessons perhaps even more crucial: how we can each lead an excellent life. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541646971
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	385,005
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Massimo Pigliucci is the K. D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. The author or editor of sixteen books, he has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Salon, among others. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.  

Table of Contents

1 Can Virtue Be Taught? 1

2 Alas, Alcibiades, What a Condition You Suffer From! 15

3 A Strong-Minded Child 43

4 The Gadfly of Athens 79

5 Teaching Virtue to Politicians 107

6 Philosopher-Kings, Anyone? 137

7 Philosophy and Politics 181

8 It's All About Character 209

Acknowledgments 237

Suggested Readings 239

Notes 243

Index 251

Editorial Reviews

06/13/2022

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. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

An enlightening study… This lucid and accessible tour through ancient philosophy offers valuable lessons for today.”—Publishers Weekly

“Massimo Pigliucci, who has elsewhere taught us to take seriously the precepts of ancient Stoicism, here looks further afield, above all to Plato, for insight into how we become virtuous people—or, too often, fail to. His expert account of ancient ethics will help us save our souls, and thereby, just maybe, save the world.”—James Romm, author of The Sacred Band

“With a deft but magically light hand, Pigliucci turns to case studies from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, and more to pose the most pressing question of our time: How do we put competent and wise leaders in office? A wonderful raconteur, Pigliucci brings the historical and philosophical texts of Greco-Roman antiquity to life with lessons about good character and leadership, whether we aspire to political office or not.”—Nancy Sherman, author of Stoic Wisdom

“The Quest for Character presents a rigorous theoretical foundation for ethical self-improvement with concrete steps—even a step-by-step syllabus!—for how we can become better people, how we can help others to do the same, and how we might influence our leaders and politicians to act virtuously. If only those in power would grab hold of this literary lifeline and take heed of Pigliucci’s wisdom, humanity might just have a chance to flourish economically, materially, and spiritually.”—Skye Cleary, author of How to Be Authentic

From the Publisher