What nuanced reflections! Thanks. I rather hope a more positive future is possible (ie, more in line with Plato and Hadot than Nietzsche and Foucault), but your outline of the current context and project is elegant.
Thank you for this thoughtful essay. Many provocative points. Among the more important, what you write about the need to cultivate, “a practice that can navigate between the cosmic attunement Hadot advocates and the critical self-creation Foucault proposes.” It isn’t either/or but both/and. And I think you are correct when you write about a contemporary process of finding ways “of practicing askēsis, that are genuinely responsive to our current situation while still maintaining a vital connection to the deepest insights of these ancient philosophical traditions.” I would add that the methodology for that process will be a combination of reflection on the experiences and writings of others, and more importantly, experimenting with our own askesis and way of life and reflecting on our own experiences. As you write so clearly, “philosophy is not merely something to be thought, but something to be lived.”
This is sooooo helpful. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Incredibly thoughtful and informative. You’ve done great work.
Thank you!
What nuanced reflections! Thanks. I rather hope a more positive future is possible (ie, more in line with Plato and Hadot than Nietzsche and Foucault), but your outline of the current context and project is elegant.
I tend to agree, though I think everything is made the better by the back and forth between different philosophers.
Adam,
Thank you for this thoughtful essay. Many provocative points. Among the more important, what you write about the need to cultivate, “a practice that can navigate between the cosmic attunement Hadot advocates and the critical self-creation Foucault proposes.” It isn’t either/or but both/and. And I think you are correct when you write about a contemporary process of finding ways “of practicing askēsis, that are genuinely responsive to our current situation while still maintaining a vital connection to the deepest insights of these ancient philosophical traditions.” I would add that the methodology for that process will be a combination of reflection on the experiences and writings of others, and more importantly, experimenting with our own askesis and way of life and reflecting on our own experiences. As you write so clearly, “philosophy is not merely something to be thought, but something to be lived.”
Bob
I tripped over the word wisdom, l thought it was going to be surrender.
*knodding