The Quest for Character - by Massimo Pigliucci (Hardcover)

About the Book

"We've always been plagued by leaders who are selfish, tyrannical, egotistical, short-sighted, or just plain bad. But can those leaders ever learn how to be better people? Is good character something that can be taught? In the Athens of 430 BCE, people certainly thought so. The task fell to philosophers: great minds like Socrates who should, in theory, be able to train anyone in the fine art of virtue. Socrates set out to teach the vain, power-seeking statesman Alcibiades how to be a good person - and failed spectacularly. Alcibiades went on to beguile his city into an idiotic war with Sparta, and all of Athens paid the price. The Quest for Character tells this famous story and asks what we can learn from it. Socrates' greatest failure has been retold in accounts from Plato to Cicero, and philosophy professor Massimo Pigliucci blends ancient sources with modern interpretations to give a full picture of the complicated relationship between the two men. Pigliucci also shares other examples, from Alexander the Great to Marcus Aurelius, of philosophers trying to teach politicians good character. Through their successes and failures, he reveals what philosophy can teach us about the quest for character today - how we can both avoid the ancients' pitfalls and walk along the path they created. Our own country continues to reel from the decisions of charismatic but foolish politicians about war, pandemic, climate change, and more, making The Quest for Character both timely and timeless. Tackling big-picture ethical questions, The Quest for Character reveals how ancient history can illuminate - sometimes chillingly - our modern dilemmas"--

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"An enlightening study... This lucid and accessible tour through ancient philosophy offers valuable lessons for today."--Publishers Weekly

"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

"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

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.