Abstract

The review study focused on Czech translation of Pierre Hadot’s Qu’est-ce que la philosophie antique? is divided into three parts. In the first part the motivation behind the question “what is ancient philosophy?” is considered. On the one hand, Hadot aims to show that usual contemporary understanding of philosophy with its emphasis on discourse and theory does not provide adequate perspective to interpret ancient philosophy in its own right and thus the question on its nature must be asked anew. On the other hand, Hadot sees the core of ancient philosophy in specific praxis, not in theory, and this concept serves as norm for critical revision of the contemporary philosophy. The second part is addressed to the content of the chapters. The study accentuates that Hadot offers not only a description of various ancient philosophical schools and movements, but also presents a certain genealogy of the contemporary understanding of philosophy. The final part is dedicated to brief critical assessment of Hadot’s book and draws several conclusions concerning the institutional character of philosophy with regard to present crisis of humanities from its perspective.