1st Edition

Philosophical Foundations of Leadership

By David Cawthorn Copyright 2002
    120 Pages
    by Routledge

    120 Pages
    by Routledge

    The nature of leadership and the human qualities that promote or inhibit it have a long history in Western thought and remain a central concern in modern societies. Crises in leadership may arise from either human failings or social complexities that defeat or reject those most qualified to lead. While most contemporary political or social commentators on such crises tend to focus on external circumstances, David Cawthon examines classical thinkers from Plato to Nietzsche to offer a historical and philosophical perspective on the intrinsic qualities of leadership and how these qualities are coded into the souls of some, but not of others.

    Introduction 1. Leadership and the Coding of Our Souls 2. Aristotle on Leadership: Free from the Tyranny of Passion 3. Leadership and the Love of God 4. Leaders and Religious Prelates 5. The Divine Right of Kings 6. Locke on Leadership: The Abolishment of Privilege 7. Rousseau on Leadership: Guiding the Wills of Men 8. Hegel on Leadership: The Unfolding of the Absolute 9. Marx on Leadership: Necessity Abhors a Vacuum 10. Nietzsche on Leadership: The Power of the Will

    Biography

    Cawthorn, David