As Nisbett points out, the Greek philosophy that remains the foundation of Western political thought shared a strong sense of curiosity with Confucius’s devotion to learning, but was grounded in a different sense of personal agency—a sense that people “were in charge of their own lives and free to act as they chose.”14 As developed by Aristotle and Socrates, the very definition of happiness for the ancient Greeks “consisted of being able to exercise their powers in pursuit of excellence in a life free from constraints.”
