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| Oregon, 2004 - Laura Anderson |
- Per Goethe, the characteristic feature of ancient life and art was to know how to live in the present, and to know what he called "the healthiness of the moment"
- We no longer know how to live int he present, for us, the ideal is in the future and can only be the object of a sort of nostalgic desire, while the present in considered trivial and banal.(220)
- This being said, the ancients were also people, who engaged in suffering for the same reasons as modern man, as recorded in art and poetry (221)
- Epicureanism: therapy of anguish, and a philosophy which seeks, above all, to procure peace of mind. Proposes a form of wisdom which teaches us to relax and suppress our worries.(224)
- Stoicism: one must maintain at each instant of his life an attitude of attention, vigilance and continuous tension, in order not to miss anything which is contrary to reason. To investigate the present.(228)
- "Whoever practices the art of living must also recognise that each instant is pregnant: heavy with meaning, it contains both the past and the future; not only of the individual but also of the cosmos in which he is plunged" (232)
- Ancient philosophy and literature went hand in hand with a specific conception of the power of thought and the divine nature of the soul, which is able to raise itself above the categories of space and time. (240)
- Alternatively, the flight of the soul does not exist in the mere experience of thinking, but rather is something that can only be experiences as a consequence of the separation of the soul and body. (240)
- All schools, with the exception of Skepticism - hold philosophy as an exercise consisting in learning to regard both society and the individuals who comprise it from the point of view of universality. This is accomplished with the help of a philosophical theory of nature as well as through moral and existential exercise. the goal is to free people from desires and passions which harass them. (242)
- To observe human affairs from above means, at the same time, to see them from the point of view of death. It is only this perspective which brings about the necessary elevation and loosening of the spirits which can provide the distance we need in order to see things as they really are (247)
- The world which we perceive in our everyday experience is radically different from the unrepresentable world constructed by the scientist (252)
- This new scientific perspective positions the world as a unified entity, of which we play a part. (253)
- Modern artists consciously participate in the universe as they create. The experience of modern art allows us to glimpse the miracle of perception itself, by forcing us to reflect on our own perceptions. (253)
- Seneca's contemplation" in order to perceive the world, we must perceive our unity with the world by means of an exercise of concentration on the present moment. (261)
- Philosophy was a way of life both in its exercise and effor to achieve wisdom, and it its goal, wisdom itself (265)
- Wisdom was a way of life which brought peace of mind (ataraxia) inner freedom (autarkeia) and a cosmic consciousness (265)
- Philosophy itself is no longer a theory divided into parts, but a unitary act which consists in living logic, physics and ethics (267)
- Ancient philosophy was an invitation to each human being to transform himself. (275)
Hadot, Pierre. Philosophy as a Way of Life. trans. Michael Chase. ed Arnold I. Davidson. Malden: Blackwell. 1995. 216- 286. Print.
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