The Philosophy of Leadership: Foundations and Frontiers

Abstract We show that in ancient times, in both West and East, philosophers thought deeply and systematically about leadership—as exemplified in both the ruling of states and in the management of households. Scholarly interest then lessened (with some notable exceptions), only to revive in the late 19th century. That interest, however, has largely been on the part of applied social scientists and management theorists. There is a need for trained philosophers to bring their specialized skills to the field. Indeed, there is a need for a revived philosophical subfield in the philosophy of leadership. We offer a list of particularly pressing questions pertaining to leadership that would benefit from philosophical attention. We then highlight the way that the contributions to this Special Issue contribute to answering some of these questions.