The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Second Edition: Conversations with Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson (Cultural Memory in the Present)

I have just recently come across the work of Pierre Hadot and I must say it has been a treat for my soul. I am not expert across the breadth of contemporary writings in philosophy in English but I know of no one like Hadot in our language. He is an academic who is astonishedly learned yet he argues forcefully for a need to engage in philosophical practice. Hadot argues that philosophy is something that we do, that we live as a result of an existential choice that we make.Before I explain that a little, let me explain the format of this book. It contains a series of ten interviews with Hadot conducted by Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson. They are friends of Hadot's and fine scholars in their own right. The first two interviews are by Carlier and serve as an intellectual biography. The book takes off in the third interview where Davidson starts to question Hadot about his ideas on discourse in philosophy. The remaining interviews are all focused on particular ideas that Hadot has about the philosophical tradition.So what is so impressive about all this? The previous reviewer mentioned that Hadot started off fascinated with Plotinus and has increasingly come to revere Marcus Aurelius (MA). That is true as far as it goes. Really, Hadot started off working on the writings of Marius Victorinus who is a relatively unknown philosopher from the early Christian/late antiquity period. The extant writings of Victorinus contain textual issues that lead Hadot to Porphyry and Plotinus and indeed to the whole of ancient philosophy. The previous reviewer wants to emphasize Hadot's interest in the Stoics. I think that is his major influence but he know his Platonists, his sceptics, his peripatetics, his Epicureans as well as Epictetus, Seneca and MA.But Hadot's learning is far greater than just that. Remember these are interviews. He weaves into his conversations quotes from all the schools of antiquity, from Augustine, Petrarch, Montaigne, Goethe, Kant, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heideggar and Merleau-Ponty with ease. And Hadot is a door to whole worlds of learning in the French/German academic tradition of which we are ignorant in English. Will someone please translate for me Ruedi Imbach's work on Dante? Groethuysen on Philosophical Anthropolgy? Georges Friedmann, Raymond Ruyer? I have no idea if those guys have anything to teach us but Hadot makes them all sound fascinating and insightful.So what does Hadot want us to do? Hadot wants us to realize that at one time philosophy was a practice, a way of life. We choose to become Stoics and then we tried to live as a Stoic. Marcus Aurelius' Meditations are the personal writings of a man reminding himself of his beliefs so that he is more likely to actually live those beliefs at all times.Which leads me to one of the ways that I differ from the previous reviewer. I read Hadot as wanting us to read the ancients to learn of the different possibilities, of the different types of life that philosophy has to offer. Hadot might lean toward Stoicism but I might prefer the practice of the sceptics or of the school of Aristotle or (doG forbid)the life of a cynic. We might even do the thing that Cicero did and pick and choose from all the schools. For Hadot, however, the thing is that we actually try to live our choice.Hadot suggests that the different schools of philosophy may turn out to be fundamental human choices that are expressed in all cultures and all times with variations.And he sees certain experiences as part of all the philosophical paths. Hadot feels that all of the schools tried to free us from the ties of our individual selves and to raise us to a "view from above"- to give us insight into an objective world view that is not based on our personal limits. At the same time, philosophy demands of us a constant concern for our neighbor and our city. And a sinking into the present where we come to be focused solely on what we are doing now.I will leave for you to read this volume and find out how he ties all these themes together. If you are not inclined toward interviews, go to What is Ancient Philosophy? for a more traditional presentation by Hadot.But here is the main thought I want to leave with you. To read Hadot, for me, is to be inspired to try to do the exercises that he talks about. I now find that when I dip into the Meditations, or Cicero or Plato that I read what they are doing differently. I find myself wondering now how to apply what I am reading, how it could impact my life. Somewhere in the Meditations, Marcus Aurelius suggests this amazing goal- to act with justice and compassion toward everyone who is here with me right now. To read Hadot is to realize that MA was asking himself to live that way at all times- that was his ideal. To read Hadot is to realize that you could try to make that your ideal as well. Pretty darn inspiring and challenging, no?

This was my first read of Hadot and found the word imminently enjoyable. I got tuned into his work by Vervaeke and am following a golden thread on meaning in general and of course in my own life. There was much here that gave me hours of good dialogue with my wife and believe will bring forth fruit in the future…great book

If you have never read Pierre Hadot…and want to learn hot philosophy….stoics, epicureans…etc….can inform and transform your life then you should read all Hadot's work….his chapters on being in the present moment…is priceless…

Pierre Hadot is maybe one of the smartest people I've ever read. This is my third book of his. I wouldn't start with it though. So if you haven't read Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault or The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, ignore everything else and get them both. Hadot's point has always been this: the concept of philosophy as an overarching system that explains our words is a fundamental misinterpretation of what ancient philosophers did and set out to do. Yet it's through this lens that we attempt to decipher Aristotle or Plato and the like. It's how we can say foolish things like, "Epicureanism is full of contradictions." The reality is that almost all of philosophy was articulated through dialog or correspondence, through human beings interacting with each other to address the basic problems of everyday life. Of course they contradicted themselves, as situations often call for. Instead of trying to explain and systemize the world, philosophy has been about the practical pursuit of the good life (being free from fear, anxiety, unnecessary pain, being happy, excelling). Philosophy as a Way of Life is essentially a book about the wisdom these men cumulatively acquired and how we can use the same exercises in our struggles. The Inner Citadel is mostly about Marcus Aurelius and the stoic concept of the self as a fortress. This book is a series of interviews with Hadot. A better way to describe it would be watching a master at work. See if you can't sprint to keep up with him by reading it--doing it for just a few pages is worth the whole thing.

Master Hadot is worthy of every educational institution in the world.. One can only wish :)

I'm thrilled to see that Stanford University Press has published this second, expanded edition of these seminal interviews because it means Hadot's work is gaining traction. Although an academic of the first order, Hadot is demanding but not difficult reading. He was determined to to make himself clear and he had excellent translators. I began reading him at the suggestion of one of my Zen teachers, starting with Philosophy As a Way of Life and moving on to What Is Ancient Philosophy? and then The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, and finally this book, The Present Alone, which revealed to me the man of great personal integrity behind all that rigorous thinking. It's been a marvelous journey full of fresh insights, especially the understanding that reasoned thinking can be the cornerstone of spiritual, even mystical, practice.

I agree with Ryan -- not the book to start Hadot with, but a delightful book none the less. Of particular interest is the saturation in French collegial/cultural religion/politics in an era gone by -- Gabriel Marcel, Merleau-Ponty, and others make their appearance. The one special virtue of this book is that one does come away from it with a better sense of how spiritually rich and wise Hadot was than elsewhere. He just comes across as a special, decent human being.