The Quest for Character

June 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.