Abstract:
The text we present here is an answer to Plato's provoking question "What is it to care for oneself?" The answers we provide are aspects of our proposal for understanding philosophy as something that is realized as a spiritual exercise; this understanding, for its part, supports the hypothesis of philosophy as a way of life. Starting with Greek philosophy we will make explicit the exercise of the cultivation of the self embodied in Socrates; then, turning to Eastern philosophy, we shall examine the character of Musashi. Both personify the option for a style of philosophical life and way of being - the first through paths of dialogue, the second through experience - and highlight the necessity of the spiritual evolution of the soul by means of a contemplative life. Consequently, in addition to exploring the great proximity between the Greek and the Eastern philosophical traditions, we will find common ground between them in thought as ethical exercise.
Keywords:
Plato; Care of the self; Spiritual exercise; Ethical-political exercise; Philosophy as a way of life.