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Title: What Is Ancient Philosophy? by Pierre Hadot, Michael Chase ISBN: 0-674-00733-6 Publisher: Belknap Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Philosophy as a way of life
Comment: Pierre Hadot's thesis is that the ancient Greek philosophical schools did not view philosophy merely as an abstract theoretical discipline, but as a transformative spiritual path. He also shows how this view became incorporated into Christianity and how it has definite similarities to Buddhism and Taoism. Ancient Greek philosophy has much to teach us, and Plato would have agreed with Marx that philosophy should not just interpret the world, but also change it. A fairly easy book to read, and (if you are interested in philosophy) enjoyable.
Rating: 5
Summary: A crucial book
Comment: Pierre Hadot's approach, which studies the ancient Greek philosophers with an emphasis on the existential choice that lies at the heart of their philosophical life, is generally well respected but also rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Some have entirely subsumed philosophy under the category of 'philosophical discourse', and thus consider the ancient notion of philosophia with skepticism; others might accuse Hadot of turning his back to modernity and its urgent interrogations, choosing instead to seek refuge in a remote past; theorists of a supposed 'crisis of values' who have apparently disqualified the ancients regarding ethics, or proponents of 'applied ethics' who have taken a similar road. What is ironic is that those who adopt a secular point of view and fear that Hadot wants to bring ancient philosophy dangerously close to a religious, monastic life, tend to use arguments very similar to those of the Christians who gradually stripped that philosophy of its ethical, spiritual roots (Hadot writes about this latter theme here). Meanwhile, one should note that Hadot's book is anything but dogmatic: the author does not posit a 'peak' of philosophy and then an unremediable decadence afterwards; he rather argues that the notion of philosophy as a way of life has in fact survived, however unevenly, throughout the history of philosophy. Thus, the object of the book is less some sort of remote past and ideas, but a very healthy and living line of thought that still feeds modern thinkers and can obviously enable us to face the problems modernity entails. This crucial book should be read by every philosopher.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent introductory survey of ancient philosophy
Comment: This is a good book for reviewing the main features of the ancient philosophical schools. Hadot's thesis is that ancient philosophers lived their philosophy and didn't just teach it, as modern philosophy professors do. For Socrates and other ancient thinkers, philosophy meant a way of life and not just a body of doctrines. The book then shows how the rise of the universities in the Middle Ages diluted this ancient concept. Hadot ends with a brief summary look at modern philosophers (Descartes to the present) who stressed the importance of actually living according to their philosophies. What I found strange is that Hadot never mentions Heidegger, and this is a little cowardice on the author's part. Hadot assumes that living philosophically means living like a good modern liberal, but in Heidegger's case it meant adhering to the Nazi regime. Strong philosophical convictions aren't necessarily sound ones, so maybe it's a blessing that more philosophy professors don't "act out" their beliefs. In short, this book is best at presenting an overview of ancient philosophy and weakest in its attempt to extrapolate from this era to our own.
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Title: Philosophy As a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault by Pierre Hadot, Arnold I. Davidson, Arnold Ira Davidson ISBN: 0631180338 Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Pub. Date: 01 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $37.95 |
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Title: Plotinus or the Simplicity of Vision by Pierre Hadot, Micahel Chase ISBN: 0226311945 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Michael Chase, Pierre Hadot ISBN: 0674007077 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $20.50 |
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Title: The Essential Plotinus: Representative Treatises from the Enneads by Plotinus, Elmer O'Brien ISBN: 0915144093 Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 1975 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: The Enneads (Classics S.) by Plotinus, John Dillon ISBN: 014044520X Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1991 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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