Ars Vitae

The ancient roman philosopher cicero wrote that philosophy is ars vitae, the art of living. today, signs of stress and duress point to a full-fledged crisis for individuals and communities while current modes of making sense of our lives prove inadequate. yet, in this time of alienation and spiritual longing, we can glimpse signs of a renewed interest in ancient approaches to the art of living. in this ambitious and timely book, elisabeth lasch-quinn engages both general readers and scholars on the topic of well-being. she examines the reappearance of ancient philosophical thought in contemporary american culture, probing whether new stirrings of gnosticism, stoicism, epicureanism, cynicism, and platonism present a true alternative to our current therapeutic culture of self-help and consumerism, which elevates the self’s needs and desires yet fails to deliver on its promises of happiness and healing. do the ancient philosophies represent a counter-tradition to today’s culture, auguring a new cultural vibrancy, or do they merely solidify a modern way of life that has little use for inwardness―the cultivation of an inner life―stemming from those older traditions? tracing the contours of this cultural resurgence and exploring a range of sources, from scholarship to self-help manuals, films, and other artifacts of popular culture, this book sees the different schools as organically interrelated and asks whether, taken together, they can point us in important new directions.ars vitae sounds a clarion call to take back philosophy as part of our everyday lives. it proposes a way to do so, sifting through the ruins of long-forgotten and recent history alike for any shards helpful in piecing together the coherence of a moral framework that allows us ways to move forward toward the life we want and need. review “in ars vitae, elisabeth lasch-quinn provides a new way for us to think about the ways in which modern americans strive to find meaning in, and strive to realize the potential of, their lives. the book sets into relief the peculiar ways in which americans grasp at the question of how to live and ultimately calls for a new inwardness in american life. this is a masterwork of a book.” ―susan mcwilliams barndt, author of the american road trip and american political thought“elisabeth lasch-quinn displays here an amazing familiarity with a vast and technical scholarly literature on ancient philosophy―not only on its relevance to everyday life in present-day america. her understanding of such sources is juxtaposed with her insight into present-day popular culture―it’s all quite astonishing. if ever a book deserved publishing, it is this one.” ―daniel walker howe, pulitzer prize-winning author of what hath god wrought"an astute archeologist of ideas, elisabeth lasch-quinn spies the finest remnants of our classical past lurking within the motley mess of contemporary life. in ars vitae, she reminds us, as faulkner once did, that the past is not dead and that the old greco-roman approaches to the art of living still constellate our thoughts and customize our actions, consciously or not." ―david bosworth, author of conscientious thinking"with impressive learning and admirable literary grace, elisabeth lasch-quinn calls on us to take seriously again what cicero called 'the art of living.drawing on a range of classical thinkers and schools, she demonstrates how true inwardness and self-knowledge are the antidotes to shallow consumerism and a narcissistic preoccupation with the self. this is a gem of a book, scholarship at the service of self-understanding and the search for truth." ―daniel j. mahoney, author of the conservative foundations of liberal order"specifically human life is about trying to discover and live the good life. when our politics and culture deny that, such searches reappear in both good and distorted ways, as elisabeth lasch-quinn details in her fine and probing new bo