How To Be Good: What Socrates Can Teach Us About the Art of Living Well

by Massimo Pigliucci

What Socrates's greatest failure says about a 2,000-year-old is it possible to teach ourselves and others to become better people?

Can we make ourselves into better human beings?

Can we help others do the same?

Can we get our leaders to care that humanity prospers, not just economically, but also spiritually?

These questions have been asked for over two millennia and attempting to answer them is crucial if we want to build a more just society. How to Be Good uses the story of Socrates and Alcibiades and examples from Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius and Machiavelli, alongside modern interpretations to explore what philosophy can teach us about the quest for virtue today. With a little work, day by day, we all have the power to pursue the timely and timeless art of living well.

Genres: Philosophy

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2022

About the author

Massimo Pigliucci is an author, blogger, podcaster, as well as the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York.

His academic work is in evolutionary biology, philosophy of science, the nature of pseudoscience, and practical philosophy. His books include How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books) and Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk (University of Chicago Press).

His new book is Beyond Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and Other Ancient Philosophers (The Experiment).

Reviews

[Oliver Maynard · Rating 3 out of 5]

An admirable attempt to marry modern politics and ancient philosophy which ends up being less than the sum of it’s parts.