This paper questions the contemporary turn towards horizons of existential meaning going back to antiquity especially in the shape of a turn to religion by pointing to crucial differences between antique conceptions of thought and their modern revivals. Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault interpret antique thought as spiritual exercises to perfect human existence, exposing an inherent existential relevance and connection to a peculiar conception of truth. I argue that because of these ties to a truth claim deeply alien to the modern scientific world-view, antique horizons of existential meaning cannot be revived within modern frames of thought. Their contemporary presence is more likely the expression of the deeply ambivalent modern relationship to premodern horizons of existential meaning, rather than a genuine revival. This paper questions the contemporary turn towards horizons of existential meaning going back to antiquity especially in the shape of a turn to religion by pointing to crucial differences between antique conceptions of thought and their modern revivals. Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault interpret antique thought as spiritual exercises to perfect human existence, exposing an inherent existential relevance and connection to a peculiar conception of truth. I argue that because of these ties to a truth claim deeply alien to the modern scientific world-view, antique horizons of existential meaning cannot be revived within modern frames of thought. Their contemporary presence is more likely the expression of the deeply ambivalent modern relationship to premodern horizons of existential meaning, rather than a genuine revival.
مجموعه
تاريخ نشر
2019
توصيف ظاهري
74-91
عنوان
Secular Studies
شماره جلد
1/1
شماره استاندارد بين المللي پياييندها
2589-2525
اصطلاحهای موضوعی کنترل نشده
اصطلاح موضوعی
meaning of life
اصطلاح موضوعی
Michel Foucault
اصطلاح موضوعی
Pierre Hadot
اصطلاح موضوعی
spiritual exercises
اصطلاح موضوعی
stoicism
نام شخص به منزله سر شناسه - (مسئولیت معنوی درجه اول )