Pre-Term Seminar

A Yearning Desire to Rise: The Ethics of Ambition

Monday, August 26 | 1.00-7.30 | Elm Library

Ambition, like pride, was once regarded as a vice, but is now often seen as a positive trait. Alexis de Tocqueville thought it a striking feature of American life and the emerging democratic culture it represented that it fostered ambition and regarded it in a more positive light than previous cultures. What is the connection between modernity, democracy, and ambition? When is ambition a positive force and when is it bad for us? How can we discern between what are and what are not appropriate goals to strive for? A pre-term seminar featuring readings from Aristotle, Cicero, Alexis de Tocqueville, and a range of modern authors, including Joan Didion and Paul Graham. 

Enrollment in this seminar is currently at capacity. If you would like to be added to the wait list, please contact Peter Wicks.

Readings
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (selections)
Cicero, On Obligations (selections)
Plutarch, Life of Alexander (selections)
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (selections)
Paul Graham, “Cities and Ambition”
Joan Didion, “Goodbye to All That”
Norman Podhoretz, Making It

Schedule
1.00-1.30 LUNCH
1.30-3.00 Ambition, Ancient and Modern
3.00-3.15 BREAK
3.15-4.30 Ambition and the Shape of Human Life
4.30-4.45 BREAK
4.45-6.00 What’s Worth Striving For?
6.00-7.30 DINNER

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?

Robert Browning, “Andrea del Sarto”