Towards a history of philosophical practices in Michel Foucault and Pierre Hadot

This paper approaches the idea of philosophy that could be extracted from the reception of Hellenistic philosophical schools in Michel Foucault and Pierre Hadot. Stressing the idea of ‘way of life’, as well as the importance of ‘spiritual exercises’ and ‘ascetic practices’ to philosophical activity, I outline similarities between the two French philosophers, in order to explore the possibility of a history of philosophy written form the concrete perspective of the technologies of the self and of spiritual practices. I present Foucault and Hadot’s analyses of concrete practices and modes of engagement with life as a perspective that redefines philosophy, as well as a hermeneutical tool in the study of ancient philosophy. In order to highlight the collective aspects of the history of philosophy as a history of practices, I discuss Hadot and Foucault's perspectives on the phenomenon of the ancient philosophical schools.