Description
Book SynopsisTraces the changing understanding of great political leadership through the history of political philosophy. Covering thinkers from Aristotle to Nietzsche, and including treatments of such statesmen as Washington and Churchill, this book addresses the question: What makes for great statesmanship?
Trade ReviewWriting with erudition and insight, the contributors to this volume address themselves to a fundamental problem of our time: we both want and need excellent political leadership, yet we do not fully grasp its character or conditions. This fine book clarifies our understanding of, and deepens our appreciation for, genuine political greatness, and it accordingly should be essential reading for scholars, statesmen, and citizens. -- Bradford P. Wilson, associate director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University
For anyone who wants to understand the full history of classical, Christian, and modern thought about magnanimity and statesmanship, this is the indispensable book. -- Larry Arnhart, Northern Illinois University
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Acknowledgements Chapter 2 1. Introduction Part 3 Part I: Magnanimity in Classical and Christian Political Thought Chapter 4 2. Aristotle's Magnanimous Man Chapter 5 3. Magnanimity and Statesmanship: The Ciceronian Difference Chapter 6 4. Thomas Aquinas on Magnanimous and Prudent Statesmanship Part 7 Part II: Magnanimity and Modernity Chapter 8 5. Hobbes on Magnanimity and Statesmanship: Replacing Virtue with Science Chapter 9 7. The Magnanimous Overman: On Nietzsche's Transformation of Aristotle's Greatness of Soul Chapter 9 6. Tocqueville on Greatness and Justice Part 11 Part III: Magnanimous Statesmen Chapter 12 9. George Washington's Greatness and Aristotelian Virtue: Enduring Lessons for Constitutional Democracy Chapter 12 8. Magnanimity and Martyrdom: The Death and Life of Thomas More Chapter 14 10. Lincoln and Biblical Magnanimity Chapter 15 The Statesman as Great-Souled Man: Winston Churchill Chapter 16 About the Contributors
