“Philosophy as a way of life” has its roots in ancient ethics and has attracted renewed interest in recent decades. The aim in this paper is to construct a
contemporized image of Socrates, consistent with the textual evidence. The account defers concern over analytical/theoretical inquiry into virtue, in favor of a
neo-existentialist process of self-examination informed by the virtue of what is
called “moral seriousness.” This process is modeled on Frankfurt’s hierarchical
account of self-id…
Read more“Philosophy as a way of life” has its roots in ancient ethics and has attracted renewed interest in recent decades. The aim in this paper is to construct a
contemporized image of Socrates, consistent with the textual evidence. The account defers concern over analytical/theoretical inquiry into virtue, in favor of a
neo-existentialist process of self-examination informed by the virtue of what is
called “moral seriousness.” This process is modeled on Frankfurt’s hierarchical
account of self-identification, and the paper suggests an expansion of Frankfurt’s
concept of a person to include “full” personhood, in which the apprehended
“meaning” of one’s “whole life” is taken as a necessary condition for eudaimonia
(meaning of life) and is characterized by phenomenological transcendence. In addition, the importance of the informed scrutiny of a community of philosophers
to the self-examination process is discussed.
