Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault

Hadot presents philosophy as "spiritual exercises" through essays on Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, and others. In addition to the exercises the book includes essays on the methods of philosophy, discussions of Socrates and Marcus Aurelius. The essay on Marcus Aurelius was enhanced by my concurrent reading of his Meditations which can be seen as an example of the way of practicing philosophy described in Hadot's book. The book concludes with a section on "Themes" where the nature of happiness and understanding the world through philosophizing are considered. He concludes with the title essay that recommends practicing philosophy as 'a way of life'. This was an intriguing and invigorating read that, as with all good books, left this reader show more with as many questions as it did answers. show less

Pierre Hadot desenvolveu uma visão original da filosofia antiga, entendida como modo de vida. A filosofia não é um sistema, mas um exercício espiritual preparatório para a sabedoria. O livro Exercícios Espirituais e Filosofia Antiga apresenta as grandes linhas desta tese, evidenciando sua aplicação em diferentes correntes da filosofia antiga e em diversos autores, notadamente Marco Aurélio. Mas a lição da filosofia antiga teria ficado somente no passado? Hadot dialoga com a contemporaneidade, mostrando que traços importantes da filosofia entendida como modo de vida permanecem ainda em nosso mundo, como se percebe pelo debate que realizou com Michel Foucault. (Amazon)

Usually when I read philosophy books I spend time taking copious notes. However, I loved this book so much that I didn't have to take so many notes. This book will be like an old friend, and I will always return to it.

> Deléani Simone. Pierre Hadot. Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique, 1987.
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URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/rea_0035-2004_1988_num_90_1_5595_t1_0251_0000_3

> Joly Robert. Pierre Hadot, Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique.
In: L'antiquité classique, Tome 58, 1989. p. 390. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/antiq_0770-2817_1989_num_58_1_2274_t1_0390_0000_2

> Nautin Pierre. 63. Hadot (Pierre), Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique.
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URL : show more target="_top">https://www.persee.fr/doc/reg_0035-2039_1982_num_95_452_1342_t2_0540_0000_2

> Joly Robert. Pierre Hadot, Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique.
In: L'antiquité classique, Tome 53, 1984. pp. 482-483. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/antiq_0770-2817_1984_num_53_1_2135_t1_0482_0000_3 show less