ABSTRACT
The importance of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations was evident in 1995 when one of the world's great publishers, Penguin Books, celebrated its 60th anniversary. In many ways, the enduring popularity of Meditations can be attributed to the Western appetite for self-improvement literature. Since Meditations takes very seriously the importance of developing a balanced and reflective mindset through practicing a careful analysis of one's emotions and desires, it is likely to become an important and influential resource for the mindfulness movement. In sum, a strong case can be made that Meditations stands out as one of the most important and influential philosophical works from antiquity. Although Pierre Hadot, one of the greatest exponents of philosophy as a practical exercise, died in 2010, his work has inspired a new generation of historians of ideas and political philosophers to excavate Meditations for fresh ways of thinking about the relationship between ethics, politics, and philosophy.
