Misconception about Hadot's spiritual exercises?
A common misunderstanding is to view 'spiritual exercises' as mere psychological techniques or self-help fads. For the ancients, and in my interpretation, these exercises were deeply embedded within a philosophical cosmology and ethics. They were not ends in themselves but disciplined practices, like Stoic 'premeditation of evils' or Socratic self-examination, designed to cultivate reason, virtue, and a profound shift in perspective towards the totality of being.
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