{"title":"A Daoist Critique of Effort in Pierre Hadot's Philosophy","authors":"Ryan Harte","doi":"10.1111/jore.12483","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n <p>This paper offers a critique of Pierre Hadot's idea of philosophy as a way of life with reference to ancient China, particularly the <i>Zhuangzi</i>. The prevailing scholarly emphasis in philosophy as a way of life falls too heavily on individual will and effortful exertion—thus Hadot's description of what he calls “spiritual <i>exercises</i>.” I argue for counterbalancing the focus on effortful self-cultivation with attention to the role of passivity, receptiveness, and chance in the good life—collectively termed “grace.” After a discussion of the overemphasis on effort in self-cultivation, I turn to the <i>Zhuangzi</i> as an illustrative source of the importance of grace.</p>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":45722,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jore.12483","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"RELIGION","Score":null,"Total":0}
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Abstract
This paper offers a critique of Pierre Hadot's idea of philosophy as a way of life with reference to ancient China, particularly the Zhuangzi. The prevailing scholarly emphasis in philosophy as a way of life falls too heavily on individual will and effortful exertion—thus Hadot's description of what he calls “spiritual exercises.” I argue for counterbalancing the focus on effortful self-cultivation with attention to the role of passivity, receptiveness, and chance in the good life—collectively termed “grace.” After a discussion of the overemphasis on effort in self-cultivation, I turn to the Zhuangzi as an illustrative source of the importance of grace.
期刊介绍：
Founded in 1973, the Journal of Religious Ethics is committed to publishing the very best scholarship in religious ethics, to fostering new work in neglected areas, and to stimulating exchange on significant issues. Emphasizing comparative religious ethics, foundational conceptual and methodological issues in religious ethics, and historical studies of influential figures and texts, each issue contains independent essays, commissioned articles, and a book review essay, as well as a Letters, Notes, and Comments section. Published primarily for scholars working in ethics, religious studies, history of religions, and theology, the journal is also of interest to scholars working in related fields such as philosophy, history, social and political theory, and literary studies.
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