Abstract

In this thesis, I seek to answer the question “What makes a good leader?” I approach this question systematically, starting in Chapter 1 by asking “What is Leadership?” In attempting to formulate a response, I find that the concept is slipperier than it first appears and difficult to pin down. All the same, I construct a thematic, contextually pertinent definition that provides reasonable precision for the purposes of this study. In Chapter 2, I present a representative survey of the social-scientific academic literature in order to establish the prospect that a philosophy of virtuous leadership can be empirically validated in practice. Chapters 3 and 4 explore key original sources of philosophical thinking on what constitutes the good life for humans and comprise the bulk of this study. In Chapter 3, I seek to demonstrate that eudaimonia is the principle underlying virtuous leadership by investigating the thinking of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Thomas Aquinas, and more the recent philosophers Elizabeth Anscombe, Rosalind Hursthouse, Phillippa Foot, and Julia Annas. I proceed along the same investigative lines in Chapter 4, with the focus shifting to virtue. I conclude by synthesizing and leveraging the content of the preceding discussions of eudaimonic virtue ethics in Chapters 2, 3, and 4 to formulate a theory of virtue-driven leadership. For the purposes of my overall project, this theory constitutes the starting point for further empirical and literary investigation of the efficacy of this type of leadership for leaders of all stripes.

Committee Chair

Harriet Stone

Committee Members

Eric Brown, Fred Niederman, Allen Schwab, Michael Sherberg

Comments

Degree granted through the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Degree

Doctor of Liberal Arts (DLA)

Author's Department

Liberal Arts

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

12-2023

Language

English (en)

Author's ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4537-8003

Download

Share

COinS