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The idea of philosophy as a way of life comes from the historian-philosopher Pierre Hadot in a book with the same title, [*Philosophy as a way of Life*.](https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Philosophy_as_a_Way_of_Life.html?id=RNDmvMrpr4YC&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y) Many scholars have used these ideas in their own work, especially in taking philosophy out of the so-called ivory tower of academia. Even Hadot himself (on page 272 of my copy) states rather passionately that: > Ancient philosophy proposed to mankind an art of living. By contrast, modern philosophy appears above all as the construction of a technical jargon reserved for specialists. This sentiment is shared by many, even in the history of philosophy. What comes to my mind is Henry Thoreau stating that there are no more philosophers but merely *philosophy professors* [as I discussed in this post](https://peakd.com/philosophy/@fermentedphil/a-failure-of-becoming-a-philosophy-lecturer-the-state-of-academic-philosophy-through-the-eyes-of-a-philosopher). He said that almost a 150 years ago. The point all of these philosophers or authors try to make is rather simple. Hadot himself, reading the ancient Greeks, sums it up pretty nicely when he states that there is philosophical discourse and philosophizing. Philosophical discourse refers to things we think about, ethics, logic, and science. It is the "meat" of theory, theorising, ivory tower stuff. It is thinking about thinking, the cliche term for philosophy. It is not thinking itself. Philosophising, on the other hand, refers to actual thinking, and living philosophically. It is the doing part, the action, activity, practice or praxis. People love to contrast these two ways of doing philosophy with each other. In a similar type of distinction, people love to contrast analytic philosophy/philosophers with continental philosophy/philosophers. That is why the translator of Pierre Hadot's books, Michael Chase, calls philosophy as a way of life a third way of doing or practising (or living) philosophy. All of these distinctions aside, the idea of philosophy as a way of life might seem strange at first, and with good reason. Philosophers, in our minds, are people who do not really seem like the type who would live their philosophies like a Christian would live their faith or a doctor living their practice. The doctor *is* a doctor, the Christian *is* a Christian. But the philosopher, in our minds, is someone who teaches at the university or who now and then publishes a book. But philosophy is not really something you are. Or that is our modern notion of philosophy. It is a subject at university, a strange section of books in one's local library, and sometimes the word that refers to our way of life in general; think: "*what is your life philosophy?*" ![_DSC5207.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fermentedphil/23tRpMjPwcFCgPVxa5QrBmepaYLEvzSimy3QE9XTyfr7r4nByZQUBZeoazz3vEH2mRfw6.JPG) But if you read the short essay by Hadot, you will understand this concept radically differently. In short, the idea professed by Hadot is that ancient Greek philosophers lived their philosophies, it was their "religion". If one could not practice a philosophy, it was not worthy of being called a "philosophy". Hence the words of Epicurus that go something like *empty and useless are the words (philosophy) of a philosopher that does not cure (one's soul)*. But all of this really sounds too similar to religion or a cult to me. A philosophy of life encompasses everything you do, spiritual exercises entail various meditations and "philosophical rituals" that even dictate one's diet and eating regimen. Does the modern philosopher think that dictating what one eats and one's meditations will affect their living? Will it lead to a good life? Or is this way of looking at philosophy too outdated? And again, too similar to modern religions and cults? I thus prefer the idea of **philosophising as a way of living** to emphasise the dynamic and active pursuits of this endeavour. It is not the adoption of a philosophy that one lives, blindly following whatever the philosopher who espoused the words and philosophy. It is instead a focus on living, living that contemplates everything from experiences to questions with seemingly no answers to them. Philosophising entails an active pursuit to try and understand whilst knowing that one is only seeing life from this specific perspective. There are others, many others, who also experience life, who have their own opinions and "philosophies" according to which they live. Everyone can philosophise, it is deep thinking about a subject, or what I like to say, it is a fermentation of one's mind. It is the conscious effort to reflect on things in a specific manner, critically, logically, open-mindedly, without holding assumptions that exclude and preclude, and so on. The idea of living philosophically also encapsulates the profound insight that all of philosophy provides one with a tremendous library of resources from which one can learn, that can profoundly change your life for the better or for worse. But most of all, it is about keeping an open mind and listening to others. ![_DSC5215.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fermentedphil/23tkfQVpdiChVDytZjwimheJ8DDgAvdQXXHwvre3xXtBmnK8xgMs74ktBqFak92HFCjBr.JPG) I would like to expand on these ideas in the next post because I truly think there is something deeply important hidden in the notion of philosophizing as a way of living that so many other authors overlook. But until then, happy reading, and stay safe. *All of the writings in this post are my own, unless stated otherwise or hyperlinked. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.*

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