Abstract

This opening chapter makes a case for understanding “spirituality” as the endeavor to attain a unity of life and thought which is manifest in the practice of philosophy as a concerted human discipline of thinking and living. The chapter draws specifically on Pierre Hadot’s construal of philosophy as a spiritual exercise, which is based on a stark opposition Hadot himself draws between “religion” and (secular) “philosophy.” The chapter contends that Hadot’s early work on Christian Platonism suggests that traditional religion often conceives of God as the source and unity of life and thought, and the task of religious spirituality is to align one’s life and thought with this divine unity. Following Hadot’s attempt to construe (secular) philosophy as a non-religious spiritual practice, the chapter argues that “spirituality” could be formally defined as the endeavor—whether religious or not—to attain a unity or alignment of life and thought.