A Way of Life

 

I was led to this book by Donald Robertson's Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Life followed by Jules Evan's Philosophy for Life: And Other Dangerous Situations but it took me a while to get to it. 

Not intentionally. When the book arrived from the Book Depository, I was ready to get stuck into it. And then I opened the first page. And closed it. And then opened it again. And closed it. 

The problem is that the other two books were written for a more generalised audience, popular rather than definitive. And this was written by an academic, in fact, it was a series of lectures he delivered and articles he wrote (one of them, a rebuttal of something Foucault said about another of his articles on Spiritual Exercises - the only problem was that Foucault had gone and died prematurely and so, was unable, in his turn, to reply to the reply to the reply).

However, this September, I decided to bite the bullet and get stuck into it. If it didn't rivet, at least, I would force myself to read a chapter a day. After a diet of slightly lightweight books, I thought it would give me something more meaty and substantial to get my teeth into. Something to masticate. You know?

Also, since this was the foundation text that the other two books (which I enjoyed immensely) were based on, I thought I should at least, give it a read. Didn't Hadot, bring back Stoicism? Didn't he popularise the spiritual exercises that the Greeks, then Romans, performed?

I think starting with that first, really long article Forms and Life of Discourse in Ancient Philosophy was what really threw me. It was his inaugural address when he took over the chair in rhetoric and philosophy at the College Royal in France. But actually I didn't even get that far in my first two attempts to read the book. First, I had to plough through the enormous 36-page introduction by Arnold Davidson.  

OK, parts of it were interesting for a non-academic, but clearly, it was written with a different audience in mind. A different audience than me, that is. With my ADHD, I like my stuff bite-sized and easy to chew. But I gritted my teeth and forced my way through it.

But here's the thing: once you get to the actual lectures, it gets better. (I am trying to write this while my cat Sheba has decided to sit on my lap and demand attention -- it takes some dexterity).

The whole premise of the book is that philosophy is not something professors teach to other future professors but a way of life. If it doesn't change your life, or the way you apprehend life, then it is something dead, belonging in an academic journal to be read by other dry and dusty academes. I could see the seeds of what became those other books and I departed from my long-time practice of not defacing my books by underlining whole chunks of it that I may revisit.

The task of philosophy then, is to educate people, so that they seek only the goods they are able to obtain, and try to avoid only those evils which it is possible to avoid.

Meaning you gotta be indifferent to indifferent things. Like evils. Don't turn a hair. Don't even blink.

Or how about this?

In the view of all philosophical schools, mankind's principal cause of suffering disorder and unconsciousness were the passions: that is, unregulated desires and exaggerated fears.

He seems to favour both Stoicism and Epicureanism (I realise I have never really known what an Epicurean is -- I always thought it was about people with super refined tastes: 

Epicureanism preaches the deliberate, continually renewed choice of relaxation and serenity, combined with a profound gratitude toward nature and life, which constantly offer us joy and pleasure, if only we know how to find them.

Here's a famous quote that sort of sums up Epicurean philosophy:

"We are born once, and cannot be born twice, but for all time must be no more. But you, who are not master of tomorrow, postpone your happiness: life is wasted in procrastination and each one of us dies overwhelmed with cares."

I could go on but I will stop there.

It's worth reading but take your time. And like me, underline stuff and read and re-read.

And maybe go to the source texts in translation (unless you happen to read Greek).