---
product_id: 101422474
title: "The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Second Edition: Conversations with Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson (Cultural Memory in the Present)"
brand: "pierre hadotmarc djaballahmichael chase"
price: "₪138"
currency: ILS
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.co.il/products/101422474-the-present-alone-is-our-happiness-second-edition-conversations-jeannie
store_origin: IL
region: Israel
---

# The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Second Edition: Conversations with Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson (Cultural Memory in the Present)

**Brand:** pierre hadotmarc djaballahmichael chase
**Price:** ₪138
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Second Edition: Conversations with Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson (Cultural Memory in the Present) by pierre hadotmarc djaballahmichael chase
- **How much does it cost?** ₪138 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.il](https://www.desertcart.co.il/products/101422474-the-present-alone-is-our-happiness-second-edition-conversations-jeannie)

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The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Second Edition: Conversations with Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson (Cultural Memory in the Present)

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    What is it to do philosophy?
  

*by G***R on Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2009*

I have just recently come across the work of Pierre Hadot and I must say it has been a treat for my soul. I am not expert across the breadth of contemporary writings in philosophy in English but I know of no one like Hadot in our language. He is an academic who is astonishedly learned yet he argues forcefully for a need to engage in philosophical practice. Hadot argues that philosophy is something that we do, that we live as a result of an existential choice that we make.Before I explain that a little, let me explain the format of this book. It contains a series of ten interviews with Hadot conducted by Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson. They are friends of Hadot's and fine scholars in their own right. The first two interviews are by Carlier and serve as an intellectual biography. The book takes off in the third interview where Davidson starts to question Hadot about his ideas on discourse in philosophy. The remaining interviews are all focused on particular ideas that Hadot has about the philosophical tradition.So what is so impressive about all this? The previous reviewer mentioned that Hadot started off fascinated with Plotinus and has increasingly come to revere Marcus Aurelius (MA). That is true as far as it goes. Really, Hadot started off working on the writings of Marius Victorinus who is a relatively unknown philosopher from the early Christian/late antiquity period. The extant writings of Victorinus contain textual issues that lead Hadot to Porphyry and Plotinus and indeed to the whole of ancient philosophy. The previous reviewer wants to emphasize Hadot's interest in the Stoics. I think that is his major influence but he know his Platonists, his sceptics, his peripatetics, his Epicureans as well as Epictetus, Seneca and MA.But Hadot's learning is far greater than just that. Remember these are interviews. He weaves into his conversations quotes from all the schools of antiquity, from Augustine, Petrarch, Montaigne, Goethe, Kant, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heideggar and Merleau-Ponty with ease. And Hadot is a door to whole worlds of learning in the French/German academic tradition of which we are ignorant in English. Will someone please translate for me Ruedi Imbach's work on Dante? Groethuysen on Philosophical Anthropolgy? Georges Friedmann, Raymond Ruyer? I have no idea if those guys have anything to teach us but Hadot makes them all sound fascinating and insightful.So what does Hadot want us to do? Hadot wants us to realize that at one time philosophy was a practice, a way of life. We choose to become Stoics and then we tried to live as a Stoic. Marcus Aurelius' Meditations are the personal writings of a man reminding himself of his beliefs so that he is more likely to actually live those beliefs at all times.Which leads me to one of the ways that I differ from the previous reviewer. I read Hadot as wanting us to read the ancients to learn of the different possibilities, of the different types of life that philosophy has to offer. Hadot might lean toward Stoicism but I might prefer the practice of the sceptics or of the school of Aristotle or (doG forbid)the life of a cynic. We might even do the thing that Cicero did and pick and choose from all the schools. For Hadot, however, the thing is that we actually try to live our choice.Hadot suggests that the different schools of philosophy may turn out to be fundamental human choices that are expressed in all cultures and all times with variations.And he sees certain experiences as part of all the philosophical paths. Hadot feels that all of the schools tried to free us from the ties of our individual selves and to raise us to a "view from above"- to give us  insight into an objective world view that is not based on our personal limits. At the same time, philosophy demands of us a constant concern for our neighbor and our city. And a sinking into the present where we come to be focused solely on what we are doing now.I will leave for you to read this volume and find out how he ties all these themes together. If you are not inclined toward interviews, go to What is Ancient Philosophy? for a more traditional presentation by Hadot.But here is the main thought I want to leave with you. To read Hadot, for me, is to be inspired to try to do the exercises that he talks about. I now find that when I dip into the Meditations, or Cicero or Plato that I read what they are doing differently. I find myself wondering now how to apply what I am reading, how it could impact my life. Somewhere in the Meditations, Marcus Aurelius suggests this amazing goal- to act with justice and compassion toward everyone who is here with me right now. To read Hadot is to realize that MA was asking himself to live that way at all times- that was his ideal. To read Hadot is to realize that you could try to make that your ideal as well. Pretty darn inspiring and challenging, no?

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Great insight!  Thought provoking
  

*by A***R on Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2023*

This was my first read of Hadot and found the word imminently enjoyable.  I got tuned into his work by Vervaeke and am following a golden thread on meaning in general and of course in my own life.  There was much here that gave me hours of good dialogue with my wife and believe will bring forth fruit in the future…great book

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    If you have never read Pierre Hadot…and want to learn ...
  

*by J***N on Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2015*

If you have never read Pierre Hadot…and want to learn hot philosophy….stoics, epicureans…etc….can inform and transform your life then you should read all Hadot's work….his chapters on being in the present moment…is priceless…

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*Last updated: 2026-02-10*