What Is Ancient Philosophy?

A magisterial mappa mundi of the terrain that Pierre Hadot has so productively worked for decades, this ambitious book revises our view of ancient philosophy - 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. Thr...

A magisterial mappa mundi of the terrain that Pierre Hadot has so productively worked for decades, this ambitious book revises our view of ancient philosophy - 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 individual's mode of perceiving and being in the world.

皮埃尔·阿多，法国当代著名哲学史家、希腊哲学专家。1991年为法兰西学院名誉教授。他主要从事古希腊、古罗马哲学和宗教研究。最初的研究关注希腊思想和基督教之间的关系，后关注新柏拉图神秘主义和泛希腊时期的哲学。他的《古代哲学的智慧 》（1995）和《作为生活方式的哲学》（2001）等作品在法国反响很大。