Chapter 35 Further Reading: Philosophical Practice

Primary Sources

Pierre Hadot — "Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault" (1995) Trans. Michael Chase, ed. Arnold Davidson

This is the essential starting point for anyone who wants to understand philosophy as practice rather than theory. The volume collects essays spanning Hadot's career, including his landmark essay "Spiritual Exercises" and analyses of Platonic, Stoic, and Epicurean practice. The essay "Spiritual Exercises and Ancient Philosophy" (pp. 81–125) is the best single introduction to his central argument. Hadot writes with unusual clarity for a philosopher, and Davidson's editorial introduction is helpful for orienting first-time readers. The second major text in this collection, "Philosophy as a Way of Life," addresses the contrast between ancient and modern philosophy directly. Indispensable.

Marcus Aurelius — "Meditations" (170s CE) Best translations: Gregory Hays (Modern Library, 2002) or Robin Hard (Oxford, 2011)

Book II of the Meditations (Gregory Hays's translation opens memorably: "Begin the morning by saying to yourself...") is the primary text for understanding the Stoic morning meditation. But the whole of the Meditations is a philosophical practice document — a private journal of self-examination — and reading it in that light transforms it from a series of maxims into something richer: a real person, under enormous pressure, trying to live according to principle. Hays's translation is the most readable modern version; Hard's is slightly more literal. Both are excellent. Return to the Meditations at different points in your life; it has different things to say at forty than at twenty.

Epictetus — "Enchiridion" (Handbook) (c. 125 CE) Best translation: Nicholas White (Hackett, 1983) or Robin Hard (Oxford, 2014)

The Enchiridion (Greek for "handbook" or "manual") is a distillation of Epictetus's teaching by his student Arrian — a practical guide to Stoic living in fifty-three short chapters. It opens with the dichotomy of control, the single most important Stoic concept, and proceeds through its applications in daily life. It is short enough to read in an afternoon and dense enough to repay months of reflection. Epictetus was a former slave who became one of the most influential philosophers in history; his perspective on what we can and cannot control has a kind of authority that comes from genuine constraint.

Thich Nhat Hanh — "The Miracle of Mindfulness" (1975/1987) Trans. Mobi Ho

Written as a letter to a fellow monk, this brief, beautiful text is one of the most accessible introductions to Buddhist mindfulness practice in existence. Thich Nhat Hanh describes washing dishes, drinking tea, and breathing as occasions for mindful practice. The book captures what mindfulness actually is — not a technique for stress reduction but a way of being present with your whole life — better than any more technical account. Read this before reading academic texts on Buddhist psychology.

Secondary Sources

Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman — "The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living" (2016)

A practical companion to Stoic philosophy, organized as a daily reading — one Stoic passage with a brief reflection for each day of the year. The meditations draw from Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, Musonius Rufus, and other Stoic sources. Holiday and Hanselman are popularizers, not scholars, but they are reliable popularizers who care about accuracy, and the format is genuinely useful for someone trying to build a daily Stoic practice. The book is not a substitute for reading the primary texts, but it works well as a daily complement to them.

Thich Nhat Hanh — "Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life" (1991)

Broader and more practical than "The Miracle of Mindfulness," this book addresses the application of mindfulness practice to daily life in the modern world: telephone ringing, driving a car, eating breakfast, facing political anger. Thich Nhat Hanh's "engaged Buddhism" is the model of philosophical practice applied to everything — not a retreat from the world but a transformation of how one inhabits it. The chapters are short and accessible; the cumulative effect of reading it is surprisingly significant.

Oliver Burkeman — "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals" (2021)

This book is not explicitly philosophical, but it is doing philosophy — specifically, the kind of existential reflection on finite time and the choices it demands that the Stoic deathbed reflection invites. Burkeman draws on Heidegger's finitude, Stoic time awareness, and Buddhist acceptance to argue against the productivity-maximization model of time management and toward a more honest reckoning with what it means to spend a finite life well. It is one of the most philosophically substantive popular books published in recent years. The chapter "The Efficiency Trap" is particularly relevant to the question of designing a philosophical practice as a busy person.

James Clear — "Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones" (2018)

The mechanism of philosophical practice is the mechanism of habit formation — small, regular actions that compound into character over time. Clear's book, drawing on behavioral psychology, provides a practical framework for building any habit: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying. For the person who is convinced of the value of philosophical practice but struggles with the implementation, this book addresses the gap between intention and sustained behavior. It is not a philosophical text, but it is a useful engineering manual for the project of becoming more philosophical.

Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh — "The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life" (2016)

An accessible introduction to Confucian, Daoist, and related Chinese philosophical traditions, written for a general audience by a Harvard scholar who became famous for a course on Chinese philosophy being consistently the most oversubscribed at Harvard. The central argument — that the Chinese traditions emphasize the daily, ritual cultivation of virtue through small practices rather than the discovery of a single authentic self — connects directly to the Hadot thesis about philosophy as practice. The treatment of Confucian ritual as a form of philosophical practice is particularly relevant to Chapter 35.

For Deeper Exploration

Hadot, Pierre — "The Present Alone Is Our Happiness: Conversations with Jeannie Carlier and Arnold Davidson" (2009) A more personal and accessible companion to "Philosophy as a Way of Life," in interview format. Hadot discusses his intellectual development, his relationship to Stoic and Platonic practice, and the place of philosophy in his own life with unusual candor.

Heckman, Susan — "The Examined Life in Theory and Practice" (a starting point for exploring philosophical counseling) For those interested in philosophical counseling as a profession or as a practice: the American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA) website and the work of Lou Marinoff ("Plato Not Prozac!") provide entry points, though the field is broader and more rigorous than the most commercially visible texts suggest.