"We may get some idea of the change in perspective that may occur in our reading and interpretation of the philosophical works of antiquity when we consider them from the point of view of the practice of spiritual exercises. Philosophy then appears in its original aspect: not as a theoretical construct, but as a method for training people to live and to look at the world in a new way. It is an attempt to transform mankind. Contemporary historians of philosophy are today scarcely inclined to pay attention to this aspect, although it is an essential one. The reason for this is that, in conformity with a tradition inherited from the Middle Ages … they consider philosophy to be purely abstract-theoretical activity."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Pierre Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life, trans. Michael Chase (1995), p. 107.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philosophy
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Philosophy
195 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Philosophy →
Related Quotes
"Philosophy that satisfies its own intention, and does not childishly skip behind its own history and the real one, ha…"
"If philosophy is still necessary, it is so only in the way it has been from time immemorial: as critique, as resistan…"
"As solid citizens, philosophers ally themselves in practice with the powers they condemn in theory."
"Like every 'intellectual', a philosophy teacher is a petty bourgeois. When he opens his mouth, it is petty-bourgeois …"
"Therefore, the seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural …"
"(Philosophy is)"
"An art, which has an aim to achieve the beauty, is called a philosophy or in the absolute sense it is named wisdom."
"Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned."
"You cannot be a philosopher. You cannot be one because you are a believer. A Catholic cannot be a philosopher'. So sa…"
"Philosophy … consists chiefly in suggesting unintelligible answers to insoluble problems."