Chapter 15
In: Hadot and Foucault on Ancient Philosophy
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Abstract
One potentially challenging case for Pierre Hadot’s claim that all of ancient philosophy was ultimately a way of life is Aristotle. At first glance it is far from clear that Aristotle understood philosophy in this way. In his Metaphysics in particular Aristotle seems to define philosophy as the acquisition and contemplation of knowledge. If Aristotle turns out not to fit with Hadot’s model that would appear to be a serious problem, for it is difficult to take seriously any account of ancient philosophy if it cannot accommodate Aristotle. This chapter will examine Hadot’s comments about Aristotle and how he accounted for how Aristotle might fit into his conception of ancient philosophy.