Preface to the Second Edition
Abbreviations
Introduction
1 The Topic
2 The Structure
PART I:
1 Philosophy and Biography
2 The Socratic Origins of the Art of Living
3 The Stoic Conception of the Art of Living
4 Sceptical Objections
PART II:
5 Philosophical Exercises
6 Exercises in the Handbook of Epictetus
7 Exercises in the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Conclusion
Additional Notes
Glossary of Greek Words and Phrases
Guide to Ancient Philosophers and Authors
Bibliography
Index Locorum
General Index

Ancient philosophy was conceived as a way of life or an art of living, but if ancient philosophers did think that philosophy should transform an individual's way of life, then what conception of philosophy stands behind this claim? John Sellars explores this question through a detailed account of ancient Stoic ideas about the nature and function of philosophy. He considers the Socratic background to Stoic thinking about philosophy and Sceptical objections raised by Sextus Empiricus, and offers readings of late Stoic texts by Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
Sellars argues that the conception of philosophy as an 'art of living', inaugurated by Socrates and developed by the Stoics, has persisted since antiquity and remains a living alternative to modern attempts to assimilate philosophy to the natural sciences. It also enables us to rethink the relationship between an individual's philosophy and their biography. The book appears here in paperback for the first time with a new Preface by the author.