In the ancient world, philosophy was understood to be a practical guide for living, or even itself a way of life. This volume of essays brings historical views about philosophy as a way of life, coupled with their modern equivalents, more prevalently into the domain of the contemporary scholarly world.

JAMES M. AMBURY is an associate professor of philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and is a member of the Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Network. He is the co-editor (with Andy German) ofKnowledge and Ignorance of Self in Platonic Philosophy (2019) and has published articles inAncient Philosophy, International Philosophical Quarterly, Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy, Dionysius, andPlato.

TUSHAR IRANI is an associate professor of philosophy and letters at Wesleyan University, Connecticut. Apart from his interests in philosophy as a way of life, he works on issues of philosophical method, the history and practice of rhetoric, virtue ethics, and moral psychology in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. He is the author most recently ofPlato on the Value of Philosophy: The Art of Argument in the Gorgias and Phaedrus (2017).

KATHLEEN WALLACE is professor of philosophy at Hofstra University. She is the author of The Network Self: Relation, Process, and Personal Identity (2019). In addition to her interest in philosophy as a way of life, her work spans interests in personal identity and anonymity, ethics, metaphysics, and American philosophy. She is currently on the Board of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy and is also the book review editor forMetaphilosophy.

Notes on Contributors ix

Introduction 1James M. Ambury, Tushar Irani, and Kathleen Wallace

Part 1: History of Philosophy5

1 Ancient GreekPhilosophiain India as a Way of Life 7Christopher Moore

2 Philosophy and the Good Life in theZhuangzi25Pengbo Liu

3 Esoteric Confucianism, Moral Dilemmas, and Filial Piety 45William Sin

4 Renaissance Humanism and Philosophy as a Way of Life 65John Sellars

5 Cartesian Philosophy as Spiritual Practice 83Joseph I. Breidenstein Jr.

6 Leibnizs Philosophy as a Way of Life? 97Paul Lodge

7 Philosophy as a Feminist Spirituality and Critical Practice  for Mary Astell 117Simone Webb

8 Nietzsche and Unamuno onConatusand the Agapeic Way of Life 141Alberto Oya

9 Ways of Discourse and Ways of Life: Plato on the Conflict Between Poetry and Philosophy 155I-Kai Jeng

10 Stoicism and its Telos: Insights from Michel Foucault 173Robin Weiss

Part 2: Moral Philosophy193

11 Philosophy as a Way of Life Today: History, Criticism, and Apology 195Marta Faustino

12 Setting Limits to Practical Reflection: Against Philosophy as a Way of Life 213Vitor Sommavilla

13 What It Takes to Live Philosophically: Or, How to Progress in the Art of Living 229Caleb M. Cohoe and Stephen R. Grimm

14 Why Practice Philosophy as a Way of Life? 249Javier Hidalgo

Part 3: Pedagogy271

15 On the Benefits of Philosophy as a Way of Life in a General Introductory Course 273Jake Wright

16 Philosophy as Empirical Exploration of Living: An Approach to Courses in Philosophy as a Way of Life 293Steven Horst

Index 309