Yakura, H: Philosophy as a Way of Life: Toward a Deeper Happiness. (ISHE Press, February 2026)
In an age overwhelmed by speed, information, and superficial satisfaction, we are increasingly disconnected from what truly matters. Thought is fragmented, time is colonized, and happiness is reduced to momentary comfort. How, then, can we live—and think—otherwise?
In Philosophy as a Way of Life, Hidetaka Yakura invites readers to rediscover philosophy not as an abstract discipline, but as a lived practice. Drawing on his background in immunology and his long engagement with Pierre Hadot, Marcel Conche, and Alain Badiou, Yakura explores how philosophy can restore depth, freedom, and meaning to human existence.
At the heart of the book lies a radical proposal: to reclaim one’s own time, to slow down thought, and to remain faithful to transformative encounters—events—that open new possibilities for truth and life. Yakura introduces the notion of a “Third Layer of Consciousness”, a mode of awareness beyond everyday routine and professional specialization, where existence is no longer merely managed, but truly lived.
This book argues that real happiness does not arise from consumption or adaptation, but from fidelity to truth, from “lived convictions,” and from the courage to think and live philosophically. In doing so, it offers a quiet yet powerful response to the crises of the AI age—and a path toward a deeper, freer happiness.
Yakura H: Philosophy as a Way of Life: Toward a Deeper Happiness --- Thinking with Hadot, Conche, and Badiou. (ISHE Press, November 2025)
Kindle Paperback
This book is an essay in which the author reflects on the thought of three major contemporary French philosophers—Pierre Hadot, Marcel Conche, and Alain Badiou—whose works have been read and discussed in the “Bergson Café,” a reading group the author has led since 2017. Through revisiting their ideas, the book explores, in a deeply meditative manner, what it means to philosophize, what it means to live, and how these questions are profoundly intertwined with the fundamental issue of happiness. Interwoven throughout is the author’s own original conception of happiness. Within the wisdom of humanity presented here—from antiquity to the present—readers will find invaluable insights that offer vital clues for living in the age of AI.
