We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2009
A charismatic leader is like a beautiful woman. Taken as a whole and looked on from afar we can all agree as to the extraordinary nature of the creature. Yet once we begin a detailed analysis of each part we find we have difficulty pointing to exactly those elements that produce the effect. Clinical descriptions may incline us to lust or disgust, but they may fail to inform us as to the ephemeral nature of the phenomenon. For that we often engage, as here, in metaphor.
Anyone familiar with Abraham Kaplan's book The Conduct of Inquiry will immediately recognize the substantial debt this comment owes to his perceptive discussion on the vagueness and openness of concepts. This note, in lieu of particular and specific citations, is still inadequate repayment. (Kaplan, A., The Conduct of Inquiry, San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Co., 1964. See especially section 8 on openness of meaning.)Google Scholar
