HSPLS site
Login
My List - 0
Help
Search
My Account
Databases
HI Newspaper
eBooks/Audiobooks
Learning
PC Reservation
Reading Program
Basic
Advanced
Power
History
Search:
Title Browse
Author Browse
Subject Browse
Best Seller Browse
Music Title Browse
Video/DVD Title Browse
Journal/Newspaper Title Browse
Serial Title Browse
Series Browse (includes Bestseller List)
General Keyword
Title Keyword
Author Keyword
Subject Keyword
Name Keyword
Series Keyword
Score Title Browse
Talking Book Title Browse
Awards Note Browse
Bib No.
Barcode
Refine Search
> You're searching:
HAWAII STATE PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM
Item Information
Holdings
Summary
More Content
More by this author
Pigliucci, Massimo, 1964- author.
Subjects
Socrates.
Alcibiades.
Character.
Leadership.
Philosophy.
Browse Catalog
by author:
Pigliucci, Massimo, 1964- author.
by title:
The quest for charac...
MARC Display
The quest for character : what the story of Socrates and Alcibiades teaches us about our search for good leaders / Massimo Pigliucci.
by
Pigliucci, Massimo, 1964- author.
New York, NY : Basic Books, 2022.
Subjects
Socrates.
Alcibiades.
Character.
Leadership.
Philosophy.
ISBN:
9781541646971 (hardcover) :
1541646975 (hardcover) :
Description:
vii, 262 pages ; 22 cm
Edition:
First edition.
Requests:
0
Summary:
"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"-- Provided by publisher.
Copy/Holding information
Location
Collection
Call No.
Status
Hawaii State Library
Social Science & Philosophy
183.2 Pi
Checked In
Add Copy to MyList
Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9884
© 2001-2013
SirsiDynix
All rights reserved.