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Rating: 
Summary: Truly inspiring
Review: All students of philosophy should get this book. It rekindles that spark which is the core of all philosophical investigation, and which, unfortunately, is too often stomped out by academia. Hadot takes us back to a time when philosophy, religion and spirituality were not separate, but one, and he shows us that philosophy can continue to provide its students with meaning.
Rating:
Summary: Rescuing philosophy
Review: Although Hadot does know his stuff, me mostly talks about other people's view on philosophy. I found this book to be quite a tease. Hadot rairly gave a good description or analysis of ancient texts. I was always interested in philosophy, but this book did me no good exept lure me to read Plato: The Republic, which I had read before in college. Plato: The Republic gets to the heart of ancient philosophy by giving a great translation of the ancient Greek texts. Making it feel like you were there when Socrates and Thrasymachus engage in one of the greatest battles of intellect and reason. And their topic of interest; 'what is justice and injustice?' a question that is still debated. Even though these dialoges date back to 380 B.C., their reasoning can still be applied today.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Philosophy
Review: Although Hadot does know his stuff, me mostly talks about other people's view on philosophy. I found this book to be quite a tease. Hadot rairly gave a good description or analysis of ancient texts. I was always interested in philosophy, but this book did me no good exept lure me to read Plato: The Republic, which I had read before in college. Plato: The Republic gets to the heart of ancient philosophy by giving a great translation of the ancient Greek texts. Making it feel like you were there when Socrates and Thrasymachus engage in one of the greatest battles of intellect and reason. And their topic of interest; 'what is justice and injustice?' a question that is still debated. Even though these dialoges date back to 380 B.C., their reasoning can still be applied today.
Rating:
Summary: A Postmodern Return to Philosophy
Review: In this book, Pierre Hadot addresses the need for philosophy to return to the philo-sophy of the ancient writers (he places special emphasis on Socrates, Marcus Arelius, Epicurus and Epictetus). The book is well organized and clear to understand. Hadot does a good job with his citation of lots of ancient material, which allows the readers to read more of the original works that he cites. With a thorough bibliography and excellent endnotes, this book is a must-have for all philosophers interested in a)postmodern philosophy and b)ancient philosophy scholars.
Rating:
Summary: Rescuing philosophy
Review: This book is a great achievement. Hadot, a recognized scholar of classical philosophy, shows us what the classical philosophers were really after. Hadot shows that classical philosophy was primarily about teaching people how to live, and not about creating grandiose systems! This book will fascinate you. (No, I am not related.)
Rating:
Summary: Hadot's key
Review: This collection of Hadot's essays is readable and useful. Michael Chase's translation of Hadot's French is clear and elegant and completely unobtrusive. The introduction by Arnold I. Davidson--while longer than some of the essays in the book--is indespensible. Hadot provides a key to reading some ancient authors, and this key enables us to see their writings as a form of philosophical practice, as spirital exercises. Hadot offers practical advice on how to read the Stoics, for example. Try reading the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius after Hadot and be the richer for it. Hadot also illuminates and critiques some modern thinkers as well. The book has an index, a good bibliography, and each essay includes numerous notes. There is also an interesting interview [by Michael Chase, the translator] with Hadot in the postscript.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant look at the historicity of philosophy
Review: While I don't think that everyone should read this book in its entirety, I definitely think that some of the essays contained within this volume help readers and, more importantly, practitioners of philosophy to understand the historical context through which what we now consider philosophy emerged. I found the chapter on the figure of Socrates to be especially enlightening as it sketched a different way to read Plato's dialogues than we are currently accustomed. Philosophy is not a purely theoretical enterprise. I think, with the decline in the popularity of philosophy in recent years, that a book reminding us of the practical uses of philosphy can help us both in making philosophers leave the ivory tower that is all-too-often a place of refuge, and in making people aware of just how important philosophy can be, even to those who aren't accustomed to the theoretical rhetoric sometimes employed.
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