What Is Ancient Philosophy?

What Is Ancient Philosophy?

A magisterial mappa mundi of the terrain that Pierre Hadot has so productively worked for decades, this ambitious work revises our view of ancient philosophyâ€•and in doing so, proposes that we change the way we see philosophy itself. Hadot takes ancient philosophy out of its customary realm of names, dates, and arid abstractions and plants it squarely in the thick of life. Through a meticulous historical reading, he shows how the various schools, trends, and ideas of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy all tended toward one goal: to provide a means for achieving happiness in this life, by transforming the individualâ€™s mode of perceiving and being in the world.
Most pressing for Hadot is the question of how the ancients conceived of philosophy. He argues in great detail, systematically covering the ideas of the earliest Greek thinkers, Hellenistic philosophy, and late antiquity, that ancient philosophers were concerned not just to develop philosophical theories, but to practice philosophy as a way of lifeâ€•a way of life to be suggested, illuminated, and justified by their philosophical â€œdiscourse.â€ For the ancients, philosophical theory and the philosophical way of life were inseparably linked.
What Is Ancient Philosophy? also explains why this connection broke down, most conspicuously in the case of academic, professional philosophers, especially under the influence of Christianity. Finally, Hadot turns to the question of whether and how this connection might be reestablished. Even as it brings ancient thoughts and thinkers to life, this invigorating work provides direction for those who wish to improve their lives by means of genuine philosophical thought.
Country USA
Brand Belknap Press
Manufacturer Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber new18-December112015-b0135281
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780674013735
ReleaseDate 2004-02-18

Country	USA
Brand	Belknap Press
Manufacturer	Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	new18-December112015-b0135281
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780674013735
ReleaseDate	2004-02-18

What Is Ancient Philosophy?

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