Next term’s subject is Classic Readings, and the module has a distinclty “Philosophy as a Way of Life” flavour to it. For that reason the key text we’ve chose for our students is Pierre Hadot’s What Is Ancient Philosophy, a book that must rate among his greatest works. Hadot is such a special writer of philosophy; his prose is calm, precise, approachable and rigorous, unhurried yet compelling. He always manages to explain his research interests in such an accessible manner, and WiAP is perhaps the best example of this knack of his.

Crito approached Harvard University Press/Wiley, explaining that we’d need twenty copies of the book for our prison education work and requesting a discount. We were blown away, however, when they replied that they’d be happy to donate all twenty copies to such a worthy cause. I suppose this post is really a thank-you message; when you’re running a small education charity, it’s acts like this that make you feel connected and valued, and which give you new purpose to continue.