Philosophy as a Way of Life (PWL) is both a meta-philosophy and a methodological approach to the study of philosophy, inspired by the work of the French scholar Pierre Hadot (1922-2010). As a methodology, PWL emphasizes that all ancient philosophical works reflect pedagogical and psychagogic concerns, and argues that these features should continue to be taken into account in contemporary philosophy. It is based largely on the practice of “spiritual exercises”, intended to transform the practitioner’s way of perceiving the world, and hence her mode of being, in order to enable her to lead a freer, more happy existence. Thus, PWL views philosophy in its fullest sense as profoundly transformational.
Philosophy as a Way of Life: Texts and Studies will make available English translations of key studies on PWL and publish scholarly monographs and edited collections that consider its different aspects and implications.
Books in this series will explore PWL in antiquity, the renaissance, the early modern period, and up to the present, PWL as a methodological approach to the history of philosophy, the implications of PWL for understanding education and its history, the cross-cultural possibilities it opens up, the relationships between PWL, virtue ethics and philosophy of culture, and the different literary genres of PWL, including the way these genres impact the style and content of ancient, medieval and early modern philosophical works.
Series Editors
Michael Chase, Eli Kramer, Matthew Sharpe
Advisory board Western Philosophy: Arnold Davidson (University of Chicago), Philipe Hoffman (École Pratique des Hautes Études Paris), Sir Richard Sorabji (University of Oxford), Richard Goulet (CNRS Centre Jean Pépin), Johannes Balthussen (University of Adelaide), William O. Stephens (University of Omaha)
East and South Asian Philosophy: Jonardon Ganeri (New York University Abu Dhabi), David Fiordalis (Linfield University), Marc-Henri Deroche (Kyoto University)
Middle Eastern and Islamic Philosophy: Sajjad H. Rizvi (University of Exeter)
North American Philosophy: Randall Auxier (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Andrew Irvine (Maryville College)