PIERRE HADOT 21st February 1922 – 24th April 2010.
In April of this year, at the age of 88, Pierre Hadot, one of the most exceptional intellectual figures of France, passed away. He was born in Paris in 1922, and grew up in Reims where he received a strict Catholic upbringing and education. He was ordained as a priest in 1944, but after eight years he left the priesthood and dedicated himself to philological research and critical editing of ancient manuscripts. During this period, he intensely studied the philosophy of Plotinus and was strongly inspired by it, which led him to write his lucid work, Plotinus or the Simplicity of Perspective, in 1963. Hadot began his work with Plotinus and remained captivated by his philosophy throughout his life. His doctoral thesis, published in 1968 in the comprehensive work Porphyry and Victorinus, is today one of the most extensive studies on Neoplatonic metaphysics.
Under the influence of his wife, a historian of philosophy, he became interested in the ethical aspect of philosophy. It is through this that he will be remembered as a contemporary philosopher of great significance. ought to be remembered is his advocacy for a return of philosophy to its original meaning, as it existed in ancient Greece.
To be a philosopher in antiquity meant not only engaging in philosophical debates and developing philosophical theories, but also living by them and being inspired by them. Such an attitude leads to inner transformation, shaping and perfecting one’s own life. Hadot believes that ancient philosophy, in which transformative action was crucial, was a “call to every person to transform themselves,” as philosophy was primarily a practice of life, learning how to live and how to die.
On the other hand, he views contemporary philosophy as institutionalized, discursive, and theoretical, without any practical application, and therefore diverging from its original purpose. According to Hadot, philosophy should not be an academic “subject” to be studied without impacting the student, but rather it should be transformative, shaping and changing the individual from within, with consequences on their behavior and their way of seeing the world and themselves as part of it. What he emphasizes is the need for philosophy to be lived and experienced, rather than simply theorized. It is constantly emphasized that philosophers should be judged by how they live and what they do, rather than by what they say or write. It is also reminded that in ancient times, philosophers were not only those who published something, but also those who lived a philosophical life.
Michael Chase, Hadot’s student and longtime friend, shares his memories of a man who put into practice what he taught, a man who, like Plotinus…, was available to himself, but above all to others. Chase says that he emphasized that philosophy is not a complicated, pretentious, and artificial construction made up of learned discussions, but a kind of transformation, a transformation of our perception of reality and our lives, and acting in accordance with that. He said, “I sincerely believe that our burning and most difficult task today, as Goethe said, is ‘to learn to believe in simplicity’.” … The philosopher was less of a professor and more of a spiritual guide: he worked on conversion, and then guided the newly converted on the path of wisdom. He was a spiritual advisor.
What Michael Chase remembers most about Pierre Hadot was his simplicity. Despite reaching great academic heights in France, fame had not spoiled him in the least: he spoke in his lectures in an understandable manner, without unnecessary rhetorical embellishments, and often made jokes at his own expense. For him, every individual, known or unknown, deserved respect and courtesy.
Plotinus or the simplicity of perspective
Among his numerous works, one particularly stands out for its significance – Plotinus or the simplicity of perspective. Written in 1963 in a burst of inspiration, this lucid and sincere work became one of the best introductions to Plotinus, and the testimonies of many readers about the spiritual inspiration they received from reading this book surprised Hadot himself.
In the final pages of this book, Hadot speaks about the inner distance that separates us modern or postmodern people from Plotinus, but he still considers it Plotinus’ life and work are a “calling” for us. However, can the inexpressible, mysterious, transcendent, the Absolute, perhaps be revealed in the inexhaustible richness of the present moment and in contemplation of the most concrete, banal, everyday, humble, immediate reality, and can the ever-present Presence be sensed in that? “Discard everything,” Plotinus said. But wouldn’t it be necessary, on the contrary, to also say: “Accept everything?”
… For ancient peoples, the very word “philosophy” – love of wisdom – was enough to express this understanding of philosophy. In The Symposium, Plato showed that Socrates, the symbol of the philosopher, could be identified with Eros, the son of Poros (abundance) and Penia (poverty). Eros lacked wisdom, but knew how to acquire it. Thus, philosophy took the form of a mental exercise, will, and the entire existence of the individual, whose goal was to achieve a state practically unattainable by humanity: wisdom. Philosophy was a method of spiritual progress that required radical transformation. Change and transformation of an individual’s way of life.
In this understanding, philosophy represented a way of life, both through its application and the pursuit of wisdom, as well as through its goal, wisdom itself. In reality, wisdom does not cause complete knowledge – it allows us to “be” in a different way. The sublimity, and at the same time the paradox of ancient philosophy, lies in the fact that it contains the awareness that wisdom is unattainable, as well as the belief that the pursuit of spiritual progress is necessary. According to Quintilian, we must… strive towards the highest, as many ancient philosophers did. Although they believed that no wisdom had ever been found, despite this, they continued to teach the doctrine of wisdom. Ancient peoples knew that they would never become wise in a way that would achieve such a stable and final state, but at least they hoped to approach it through certain privileged moments, and wisdom was a transcendent rule that governed their actions. ma.
In order to better understand ancient philosophy as a way of life, it is probably necessary to note the distinction proposed by the Stoics, the distinction between the discussion of philosophy and philosophy itself. For the Stoics, the parts of the philosophical system: physics, ethics, and logic, were not actually parts of philosophy itself, but rather parts of the discussion about philosophy. …
The discussion about philosophy is not the same as philosophy. Polemon, one of the leaders of the old Academy, used to say: We should practice ourselves in everyday life, not in dialectical speculations, like… a place in the history of philosophy, but rather to guide individuals in their pursuit of a meaningful and virtuous life. This is why philosophers like Epictetus emphasized the importance of applying philosophical principles in practical situations. They believed that knowledge should be put into action, and that one’s words and actions should be consistent with their beliefs and teachings. In this way, philosophy becomes a way of life, a means of navigating the complexities of human existence and engaging with the world around us. a complete, systematic explanation of the entire reality. It can be said that it was systematic in order to facilitate the mind in adopting a certain number of principles, closely interconnected, which enhance the power of belief and the effectiveness of the mnemonic technique precisely through such systematization. Collected short sayings, sometimes in striking form, main principles, served to enable the student to easily navigate within the fundamental order in which he was intended to live.
Does the philosophical life consist only of the application of principles in every moment or of well-studied theorems with the aim of resolving life’s problems? Actually, when we consider what the philosophical life implies, we understand that there is a gap between philosophical theory and philosophy as a living action. …
In Stoicism, as well as with the Epicureans, engaging in philosophy was a continuous action, permanent and identical to life itself, which needed to be constantly renewed. In both schools, this action can be defined as directing attention.
In Stoicism, the focus is directed towards the purity of intention. In other words, its goal is to achieve harmony between our personal will and reason or the will of the universal nature. On the contrary, in Epicureanism, the focus is directed towards pleasure, which is considered the pleasure of existence according to the latest theories. However, in order to achieve this direction, it was necessary to practice a series of exercises: intense contemplation of fundamental teachings, constant awareness of the transience of life, exploration of one’s conscience, and above all, a specific attitude towards the flow of time.
Just like the Stoics, the Epicureans also advise us to live in the present, not allowing ourselves to be burdened by either the past or the uncertainty of the future. For both of these schools, the present is enough for happiness because it represents the only reality that belongs to us and depends on us. Stoics and Epicureans agreed in recognizing the infinite value of each moment: for them, wisdom is equally perfect and complete in one moment as it is in another. Even throughout eternity. Especially for the stoic sage, the totality of the cosmos is contained and encompassed in every moment. Moreover, not only can we but we must be happy right now. The matter is urgent because the future is uncertain and death a constant threat: while we wait to live, life passes us by. We can only understand this attitude if we assume that there was a sharp awareness of transience and the immense value of existence in traditional philosophy. Existence within the cosmos, in the unique reality of cosmic events, was considered something infinitely precious.
So, as we have seen, philosophy in the Hellenistic and Greek period took on the form of a way of life, the art of living, and a way of being. However, this was nothing new. Traditional philosophy already had this character since the time of Socrates. There was a Socratic way of life (which the Cynics sought to imitate), and the Socratic dialogue was an exercise that led Socrates’ interlocutors in the translation and interpretation of philosophy. The Christian tradition emphasized the importance of faith and obedience to religious teachings, which sometimes led to a separation between philosophy and a way of life. Additionally, the rise of modernity and the scientific revolution brought a focus on objective knowledge and empirical evidence, diminishing the role of philosophy as a personal and transformative practice. However, it is crucial to recognize that throughout history, philosophy has been intertwined with a way of life, with philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle emphasizing the importance of self-reflection, self-improvement, and living in accordance with reason. Therefore, it is necessary to reclaim the understanding of philosophy as a way of life, as an ongoing journey of self-discovery and ethical living. I can discern the phenomena in this. From its very beginnings, which means from the 2nd century AD onwards, Christianity presented itself as a philosophy: the Christian way of life. Indeed, the fact that it was possible for Christianity to be presented as a philosophy confirms that philosophy has long been considered a way of life. If engaging in philosophy meant living in accordance with the law of reason, then it can be argued that a Christian is also a philosopher since he lives in accordance with the law of Logos – the divine mind. In order to portray itself as a philosophy, Christianity had to incorporate elements borrowed from ancient philosophy. It had to show that the Logos of the Gospel according to John corresponds to the Stoic cosmic mind, and later, to the spirit of Aristotle and Plato. It was also necessary to include philosophical spiritual exercises in Christian life. The phenomenon of adaptation appears very clearly in the works of Clement of Alexandria and intensifies within the monastic movement, where we find Stoic-Platonic exercises of attention. sophija, dok je praksa življenja u skladu s razumom postala ključna. Uz to, srednjovjekovna sveučilišta su osigurala jasan odnos između teologije i filozofije, omogućujući da se obje discipline nadopunjuju i doprinose cjelovitom razumijevanju svijeta. One of the main characteristics of universities is that there are professors who teach other professors, that is, professionals who teach In professionals. Thus education is no longer intended for individuals who need to go through it in order to become fully developed human beings, but to become professionals, that is, with the aim of learning how to train other professionals. This is the danger of “scholasticism”, a philosophical orientation that originated in late antiquity and developed in the Middle Ages, and whose presence can still be recognized in today’s philosophy.
… In contemporary university philosophy, it obviously no longer represents a way or model of life – unless it is the way of life of philosophy professors. Nowadays, the philosophical element and the living environment are contained within the state educational institution. This has always been, and continues to be, a danger to its independence.However, modern philosophy is primarily and above all a discussion that develops in the classroom, and then is handed over to books. It is a text that requires interpretation.This does not mean that modern philosophy is not once again open. various ways, encompasses some existential aspects of classical philosophy. It must also be added that these aspects have never completely disappeared. For example, it is not coincidental that Descartes named one of his works Meditations. These are indeed meditations – meditatio in the sense of exercise – in accordance with the spirit of St. Augustine’s Christian philosophy, and Descartes recommends practicing them for a certain period of time. Beneath its systematic, geometric form, Spinoza’s Ethics corresponds very well to what a systematic philosophical treatise could represent to the Stoics. It could be said that Spinoza’s discourse, resting on classical philosophy, teaches man how to transform his being radically and concretely, and how to achieve bliss. The concept of the wise man, moreover, appears in the final lines of the Ethics: The wise man, as long as he is considered as such, is almost never disturbed in spirit, but because he is aware of himself, God, and things through a certain eternal necessity, he never falters except in age possesses true tranquility of the spirit….It can be said that what distinguishes ancient from modern philosophy is the fact that in ancient philosophy, it was not only Chrysippus and Epicurus who were considered philosophers due to the development of a philosophical system. It could rather be said that every person who lived according to the principles of Chrysippus and Epicurus was, in every sense, a philosopher just like them. A politician like Cato of Utica was considered a philosopher, even a wise man, although he never wrote or taught anything, because he led a perfect Stoic life. The same was true for Roman statesmen Rutilius Rufus and Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex, who practiced Stoicism by setting selfless and humane examples in the governance of the provinces entrusted to them. These people were not just mere examples of morality, but individuals who lived Stoicism in its entirety, speaking as Stoics (Cicero explicitly conveys to us that they avoided a certain rhetorical manner in their speech). through the lens of Stoicism – in other words, they are trying to live in accordance with cosmic reason. They strive to achieve the ideal of a Stoic sage: to be a human in a certain way, to live in harmony with reason, within the cosmos and alongside other human beings. The goal of their aspirations is not only ethics, but the human being as a whole.
Ancient philosophy offered humanity the art of living. On the other hand, modern philosophy primarily appears as a structure of technical jargon intended for experts. …
In antiquity, philosophy was a practice that was carried out in every moment. It calls us to focus on each moment of life, in order to become aware of the infinite value of each present moment, once we replace it within the cosmic perspective. The exercise of wisdom involves a cosmic dimension. While an ordinary person loses touch with the world and does not see the world as such, but rather approaches it with a as a source of satisfaction of his desires, a prudent man never stops being aware of the whole in his mind. He thinks and acts within a cosmic perspective. He has a sense of belonging to the whole that extends beyond the boundaries of his individuality.
The ancient philosophical tradition can provide guidance in our relationship with ourselves, the cosmos, and other human beings. In the mentality of modern historians, there is no cliché that takes a more secure position and is harder to eradicate than the idea that ancient philosophy represented a mechanism of escape, a retreat from oneself. In the case of Platonism, it would be a retreat into the world of ideas, a rejection of politics in the case of Epicureans, a submission to fate in the case of Stoics. This view is actually doubly wrong. First and foremost, ancient philosophy was always practiced in a group, whether it was Pythagorean communities, Platonic love, Epicurean friendship, or Stoic spiritual direction. Ancient philosophy sought a collective effort, research community, mutual assistance, and spiritual support. Above all, philosophers, and according to recent research, also Epicureans, have never ceased to exert influence on their cities, transforming society and serving their fellow citizens, who often praised them, as evidenced by preserved written records. Political ideas could vary from school to school, but the concern for influencing the city or state, the king or emperor, has always been the same. This is particularly true for Stoicism and can be easily observed in many texts of Marcus Aurelius. As one of the three requirements that must be met, along with vigilance of one’s own thoughts and acceptance of events predetermined by fate, the most important place is occupied by the duty of individuals to always act for the benefit of the human community, that is, to act in accordance with justice. This last requirement is, moreover, inseparably linked to the previous two. It is that one and the same wisdom that is confirmed as cosmic wisdom and as reason in which the human being participates. participation in the life of the community and the pursuit of justice is a fundamental element of every philosophical life. In other words, a philosophical life naturally entails engagement with the community. This is probably the most difficult to achieve. The key is to stay at the level of reason and not allow ourselves to be blinded by political passion, anger, hatred, or prejudice. Of course, there is a balance – which is almost impossible to achieve – between the inner peace that wisdom brings and the passions that cannot be restrained when faced with injustice, suffering, and human misery. However, wisdom consists precisely in such a balance, and inner peace is essential for effective action.
This is the teaching of ancient philosophy: a call to every human being for self-transformation. Philosophy is a conversion, a transformation of our way of existing and living, and a search for wisdom. This is not an easy task. Spinoza wrote at the end of Ethics:
Although