What is Ancient Philosophy?

What is Ancient Philosophy? PDF Author: Pierre Hadot
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674013735
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
Hadot shows how the schools, trends, and ideas of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy strove to transform the individual's mode of perceiving and being in the world. For the ancients, philosophical theory and the philosophical way of life were inseparably linked. Hadot asks us to consider whether and how this connection might be reestablished today.

What is Ancient Philosophy?

What is Ancient Philosophy? PDF Author: Pierre Hadot
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674013735
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
Hadot shows how the schools, trends, and ideas of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy strove to transform the individual's mode of perceiving and being in the world. For the ancients, philosophical theory and the philosophical way of life were inseparably linked. Hadot asks us to consider whether and how this connection might be reestablished today.

Ancient Philosophy and Everyday Life

Ancient Philosophy and Everyday Life PDF Author: Trevor Curnow
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443806730
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
Ancient Philosophy and Everyday Life is an introduction to Cynicism, Stoicism, Epicureanism and Scepticism. After a general account of the nature of ancient philosophy, it looks at each of these four particular schools in turn, outlining their histories and their doctrines. Special attention is paid to how these philosophies formed the bases for distinctive ways of life in antiquity. It is shown how their founders not only articulated the fundamental ideas of their schools but also embodied them in their own lives. Some of the more colourful characters of ancient philosophy appear here, including Diogenes of Sinope who lived in a wine barrel and Peregrinus Proteus who died by climbing onto his own funeral pyre at the Olympic Games. Consideration is also given to whether it would be possible to live like an authentic Cynic, Stoic, Epicurean or Sceptic today and if so, how. The ideas of the schools are clearly explained with a minimum of technical jargon, making this an ideal introduction for anyone with an interest in the subject.

Philosophy as a Way of Life

Philosophy as a Way of Life PDF Author: Pierre Hadot
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9780631180333
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
This book presents a history of spiritual exercises from Socrates to early Christianity, an account of their decline in modern philosophy, and a discussion of the different conceptions of philosophy that have accompanied the trajectory and fate of the theory and practice of spiritual exercises. Hadot's book demonstrates the extent to which philosophy has been, and still is, above all else a way of seeing and of being in the world.

Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations

Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations PDF Author: Jules Evans
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1608682307
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
When philosophy rescued him from an emotional crisis, Jules Evans became fascinated by how ideas invented over two thousand years ago can help us today. He interviewed soldiers, psychologists, gangsters, astronauts, and anarchists and discovered the ways that people are using philosophy now to build better lives. Ancient philosophy has inspired modern communities — Socratic cafés, Stoic armies, Epicurean communes — and even whole nations in the quest for the good life. This book is an invitation to a dream school with a rowdy faculty that includes twelve of the greatest philosophers from the ancient world, sharing their lessons on happiness, resilience, and much more. Lively and inspiring, this is philosophy for the street, for the workplace, for the battlefield, for love, for life.

The Good Life Method

The Good Life Method PDF Author: Meghan Sullivan
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1984880314
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Two Philosophers Ask and Answer the Big Questions About the Search for Faith and Happiness For seekers of all stripes, philosophy is timeless self-care. Notre Dame philosophy professors Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko have reinvigorated this tradition in their wildly popular and influential undergraduate course “God and the Good Life,” in which they wrestle with the big questions about how to live and what makes life meaningful. Now they invite us into the classroom to work through issues like what justifies our beliefs, whether we should practice a religion and what sacrifices we should make for others—as well as to investigate what figures such as Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Iris Murdoch, and W. E. B. Du Bois have to say about how to live well. Sullivan and Blaschko do the timeless work of philosophy using real-world case studies that explore love, finance, truth, and more. In so doing, they push us to escape our own caves, ask stronger questions, explain our deepest goals, and wrestle with suffering, the nature of death, and the existence of God. Philosophers know that our “good life plan” is one that we as individuals need to be constantly and actively writing to achieve some meaningful control and sense of purpose even if the world keeps throwing surprises our way. For at least the past 2,500 years, philosophers have taught that goal-seeking is an essential part of what it is to be human—and crucially that we could find our own good life by asking better questions of ourselves and of one another. This virtue ethics approach resonates profoundly in our own moment. The Good Life Method is a winning guide to tackling the big questions of being human with the wisdom of the ages.

Ars Vitae

Ars Vitae PDF Author: Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN: 0268108919
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 567

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Book Description
Despite the flood of self-help guides and our current therapeutic culture, feelings of alienation and spiritual longing continue to grip modern society. In this book, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn offers a fresh solution: a return to classic philosophy and the cultivation of an inner life. The ancient Roman philosopher Cicero wrote that philosophy is ars vitae, the art of living. Today, signs of stress and duress point to a full-fledged crisis for individuals and communities while current modes of making sense of our lives prove inadequate. Yet, in this time of alienation and spiritual longing, we can glimpse signs of a renewed interest in ancient approaches to the art of living. In this ambitious and timely book, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn engages both general readers and scholars on the topic of well-being. She examines the reappearance of ancient philosophical thought in contemporary American culture, probing whether new stirrings of Gnosticism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Cynicism, and Platonism present a true alternative to our current therapeutic culture of self-help and consumerism, which elevates the self’s needs and desires yet fails to deliver on its promises of happiness and healing. Do the ancient philosophies represent a counter-tradition to today’s culture, auguring a new cultural vibrancy, or do they merely solidify a modern way of life that has little use for inwardness—the cultivation of an inner life—stemming from those older traditions? Tracing the contours of this cultural resurgence and exploring a range of sources, from scholarship to self-help manuals, films, and other artifacts of popular culture, this book sees the different schools as organically interrelated and asks whether, taken together, they can point us in important new directions. Ars Vitae sounds a clarion call to take back philosophy as part of our everyday lives. It proposes a way to do so, sifting through the ruins of long-forgotten and recent history alike for any shards helpful in piecing together the coherence of a moral framework that allows us ways to move forward toward the life we want and need.

A Companion to Ancient Philosophy

A Companion to Ancient Philosophy PDF Author: Mary Louise Gill
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405188340
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 833

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Book Description
A Companion to Ancient Philosophy provides a comprehensive and current overview of the history of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy from its origins until late antiquity. Comprises an extensive collection of original essays, featuring contributions from both rising stars and senior scholars of ancient philosophy Integrates analytic and continental traditions Explores the development of various disciplines, such as mathematics, logic, grammar, physics, and medicine, in relation to ancient philosophy Includes an illuminating introduction, bibliography, chronology, maps and an index

Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy

Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy PDF Author: Pierre Destrée
Publisher:
ISBN: 0190460547
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Ancient philosophers were very interested in questions about laughter, humor and comedy. They theorized about laughter and its causes, moralized about the appropriate uses of humor and what it is appropriate to laugh at, and wrote treaties on comedic composition. This volume explores themes that were important for ancient philosophers: the psychology of laughter, the ethical and social norms governing laughter and humor, and the philosophical uses of humor and comedic technique.

Pursuits of Wisdom

Pursuits of Wisdom PDF Author: John M. Cooper
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069115970X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 458

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Book Description
This is a major reinterpretation of ancient philosophy that recovers the long Greek and Roman tradition of philosophy as a complete way of life--and not simply an intellectual discipline. Distinguished philosopher John Cooper traces how, for many ancient thinkers, philosophy was not just to be studied or even used to solve particular practical problems. Rather, philosophy--not just ethics but even logic and physical theory--was literally to be lived. Yet there was great disagreement about how to live philosophically: philosophy was not one but many, mutually opposed, ways of life. Examining this tradition from its establishment by Socrates in the fifth century BCE through Plotinus in the third century CE and the eclipse of pagan philosophy by Christianity, Pursuits of Wisdom examines six central philosophies of living--Socratic, Aristotelian, Stoic, Epicurean, Skeptic, and the Platonist life of late antiquity. The book describes the shared assumptions that allowed these thinkers to conceive of their philosophies as ways of life, as well as the distinctive ideas that led them to widely different conclusions about the best human life. Clearing up many common misperceptions and simplifications, Cooper explains in detail the Socratic devotion to philosophical discussion about human nature, human life, and human good; the Aristotelian focus on the true place of humans within the total system of the natural world; the Stoic commitment to dutifully accepting Zeus's plans; the Epicurean pursuit of pleasure through tranquil activities that exercise perception, thought, and feeling; the Skeptical eschewal of all critical reasoning in forming their beliefs; and, finally, the late Platonist emphasis on spiritual concerns and the eternal realm of Being. Pursuits of Wisdom is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding what the great philosophers of antiquity thought was the true purpose of philosophy--and of life.

Stoicism

Stoicism PDF Author: John Sellars
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317493915
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
This is the first introduction to Stoic philosophy for 30 years. Aimed at readers new to Stoicism and to ancient philosophy, it outlines the central philosophical ideas of Stoicism and introduces the reader to the different ancient authors and sources that they will encounter when exploring Stoicism. The range of sources that are drawn upon in the reconstruction of Stoic philosophy can be bewildering for the beginner. Sellars guides the reader through the surviving works of the late Stoic authors, Seneca and Epictetus, and the fragments relating to the early Stoics found in authors such as Plutarch and Stobaeus. The opening chapter offers an introduction to the ancient Stoics, their works, and other ancient authors who report material about ancient Stoic philosophy. The second chapter considers how the Stoics themselves conceived philosophy and how they structured their own philosophical system. Chapters 3-5 offer accounts of Stoic philosophical doctrines arranged according to the Stoic division of philosophical discourse into three parts: logic, physics, and ethics. The final chapter considers the later impact of Stoicism on Western philosophy. At the end of the volume there is a detailed guide to further reading.