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

Author: Massimo Pigliucci

Narrator: Alan Carlson

Unabridged: 7 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 09/27/2022

Synopsis

What Socrates’s greatest failure reveals about an ancient question: Can we teach our leaders 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. 

About Massimo Pigliucci

Massimo Pigliucci is the K. D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. He holds PhDs in evolutionary biology and philosophy. The author or editor of sixteen books, including How to Be a Stoic, he has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Philosophy Now, and the Philosophers' Magazine, among others. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Enda on November 17, 2022

I'm in the process of writing a full review for this book, and I just wanted to share a quick recap. I found this book fascinating for someone like me who's trying to navigate life using Philosophy and the ethical teachings of these men and women. This book is a sterling attempt at collaborating Anci......more

Goodreads review by Craig on July 16, 2023

It started out slow for me but was overall a good read.......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on October 04, 2022

The Athenian general and statesman Alcibiades, Dionysius I and II of Syracuse, and the Roman emperor Nero all received instruction from prominent philosophers (Socrates, Plato, and Seneca, respectively)—and then proceeded to fail miserably as leaders. History will remember them as egotistical, selfi......more

Goodreads review by Adam on December 05, 2023

This book did a solid job at discussing various types of ethical positions various leaders and philosophers have taken throughout history, with an emphasis on ancient history. The author used the story of Socrates and Alcibiades as the launching pad into these conversations, but supplemented it with......more

Goodreads review by Brett on March 11, 2024

The author starts with Socrates then offers insights to other philosophers and how they can inspire or influence leadership in a variety of settings I enjoyed the conversational tone and the asides linking the past with present challenges. He offered many questions we can ask when encountering leade......more

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