The Quest for Character

In this episode, I chat with Massimo Pigliucci, Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York, part of the team responsible for the Modern Stoicism organization, and author of several books on philosophy, including How to be a Stoic and, more recently, The Quest for Character: What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches us about Our Search for Good Leaders.  

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Topics covered include…

* How Massimo first got into philosophy, and into Stoicism

* What he learned from writing How to be a Stoic

* How he has changed his mind about aspects of Stoicism

* The Modern Stoicism org and the modern resurgence of interest in Stoicism?

* Why doesn’t there seem to be as much interest in Epicureanism or other ancient schools of philosophy among the general public?

* What's The Quest for Character about?

* Why write about Socrates and Alcibiades?

* What potential do you think Socrates saw in Alcibiades?

* What do you think Alcibiades’ biggest flaws were and what was his biggest mistake in life?

* Would it have turned out differently if a Stoic like Epictetus had been Alcibiades’ tutor?

* To what extent good character, or virtue, can be taught

* How we could be doing a better job of teaching virtue today

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