Brat McKay here and welcome to No The Edition of The Art of Manliness Podcast.

The ancient Greeks and Romans thought a lot about what it means to live a virtuous life.

They believed that good character was essential for achieving both individual excellence and

a healthy, well-functioning society.

For this reason, they also thought a lot about whether virtue could be taught to citizens,

and philosophers put this thinking into practice by attempting to educate the moral ideals

of leaders.

My guest, Professor philosophy Massimo Palucci, explores what the Greco-Romans discovered

about the nature and teachability of virtue in his new book The Quest for Character.

To end the show, Massimo and I discussed how the ancient Greeks and Romans define virtue

and what it meant to them to live with error-tay or excellence.

We then look at case studies of philosophers who tried to shape men into being better leaders,

including Socrates teaching al-Sobieties, Aristotle tutoring Alexander the Great, and Seneca

mentoring Nero.

Massimo explains how these field experiments turned out, and the takeaways they offer on

the question of whether virtue can be taught.

We in a conversation with the ancient insights that have been confirmed by modern research

that can help us become better people.

After shows over, check out our show notes at a-m dot i s slash teach virtue.

Massimo Palucci, welcome to the show.

Pleasure to be here, thank you.

So you are a professor of philosophy and you got a new book out called The Quest for Character

...