Max Beckmann Lecture

On Character: What It Is and Why it Matters

Why are the qualities associated with good character—wisdom, courage, justice, and moderation, and others such as kindness and compassion—no longer considered especially important in our hyper-cynical world? Why is character no longer a topic for serious discourse in the public sphere? At a time of pervasive frustration and disillusionment with our communities, institutions, and, in particular, our leaders, Daniel Weiss argues for more serious consideration—and practice—of the human qualities long recognized to be essential to personal well-being and social flourishing. In this talk, he looks at character as an idea from Socrates and the ancient Greeks through Cicero and the Enlightenment to the present environment of fake news and post-truth, considering how notions of moral virtue that may seem antiquated provide the very answers we need to what ails us today.