Don't Forget to Live: Goethe and the Tradition of Spiritual Exercises

by Pierre Hadot, Michael Chase (Translator), Arnold I. Davidson (Foreword by), Daniele Lorenzini (Foreword by)

Overview

The esteemed French philosopher Pierre Hadot’s final work, now available in English.
With a foreword by Arnold I. Davidson and Daniele Lorenzini.
 
In his final book, renowned philosopher Pierre Hadot explores Goethe’s relationship with ancient spiritual exercises—transformative acts of intellect, imagination, or will. Goethe sought both an intense experience of the present moment as well as a kind of cosmic consciousness, both of which are rooted in ancient philosophical practices. These practices shaped Goethe’s audacious contrast to the traditional maxim memento mori (Don’t forget that you will die) with the aim of transforming our ordinary consciousness. Ultimately, Hadot reveals how Goethe cultivated a deep love for life that brings to the forefront a new maxim: Don’t forget to live.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226497167
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	04/05/2023
Series:	The France Chicago Collection
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	551,491
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Pierre Hadot (1922-2010) was professor of the history of Hellenistic and Roman thought at the Collège de France. He was the author of many books, including Plotinus or the Simplicity of Vision.


Michael Chase is senior researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Centre Jean Pépin and adjunct professor of Greek and Roman studies at the University of Victoria. He is the author and translator of many books, including Ammonius: Interpretation of Porphyry’s Introduction to Aristotle’s Five Terms.

Arnold I. Davidson is Distinguished Professor of Humanities at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he teaches principally in the Department of Jewish Thought and the Department of Romance Studies. He is also the Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. 

Daniele Lorenzini is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Translator’s Introduction
Preface
1. “The Present Is the Only Goddess I Adore”
   Faust and Helen
   The Present, the Trivial, and the Ideal
   Idyllic Arcadia
   Unconscious Health or Conquered Serenity?
   The Philosophical Experience of the Present
   The Tradition of Ancient Philosophy in Goethe
   The Present, the Instant, and Being-There in Goethe
2. The View from Above and the Cosmic Journey
   The Instant and the View from Above
   The View from Above in Antiquity: Peaks and Flight of the Imagination
   The Philosophical Meaning of the View from Above among Ancient Philosophers
   The Medieval and Modern Tradition
   The Various Forms of the View from Above in Goethe
   The View from Above after Goethe
   Aeronauts and Cosmonauts
3. The Wings of Hope: The Urworte
   Daimôn, Tukhê
   Daimôn, Tukhê, Eros, Anankê, and Elpis
   Human Destiny
   Autobiographical Aspects?
   The Caduceus
   Elpis, Hope
4. The Yes to Life and the World
   Great Is the Joy of Being-There (Freude des Daseins)
   Greater Still Is the Joy One Feels in Existence Itself (Freude am Dasein)
   The Yes to Becoming and the Terrifying
   Goethe and Nietzsche
Conclusion
Translator’s Note
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

A very beautiful book that celebrates action, the duty to serve, and joy.

on the French edition Valeurs Actuelles

"Pointing to similarities to the ancient philosophers Goethe knew intimately, Hadot observes that Goethe owes a debt to them but surpasses them in his emphasis on remembering to live a joyfully fulfilling life. Beautifully translated."

Choice - E. G. Wickersham

To read Pierre Hadot sparks enormous joy.

on the French edition Charlie Hebdo

Renowned for reviving the classical idea of philosophy as an art of living, Pierre Hadot combines his expertise in Greco-Roman thought with an extensive study of Goethe to produce a fascinating book, rich in both erudition and relevance for the conduct of life—reinterpreting, with compelling nuance and philosophical sophistication, the deeper, more mindful meaning of the Horatian maxim carpe diem. What you learn from this book can change your life.

Richard Shusterman

No one is more qualified to describe this spiritual line of descent than Pierre Hadot

on the French edition Le Figaro

This deeply personal work, by one of the greatest of French classical philosophers, featuring one of his major inspirations, the great German author and philosopher Goethe, excellently translated by Michael Chase, might just change your life. It is the culmination of Hadot’s long-term concern with ‘philosophy as a way of life,’ and constitutes a significant expansion and deepening of this theme.

John Dillon

"There are few figures in Western literature whose legacies are as bound up with their work as Goethe, and Hadot’s powerful interpretation is undoubtedly an important milestone in that legacy’s history. Even apart from it many other virtues, that reason alone makes this volume a necessary addition to the libraries of Goethe scholars."

Journal of Religion