Includes bibliographical references and index.

Taking the long view of the history of philosophy, The Failures of Philosophy shows how philosophy has in fact collapsed several times, been completely abandoned, sometimes for centuries, and been replaced by something quite different from philosophy. The book focuses on what are historically the most significant failures of philosophy: attempts to provide an account of 'the good life' and how to live; to establish philosophy as a discipline that can stand in judgement over and assess other forms of thought; attempts to establish philosophy as a theory of everything; and attempts to construe it as a discipline that parallels or rationalizes the empirical and mathematical sciences, building up technical credentials that mimic those of science. The central atrgument of the book is that examination of these failures tells us much more about the nature of philosophical enquiry, and about the ultimate point of the exercise, than its successes possibly could. Examination of its failures shows us the significant differences in the way in which philosophers have conceived of the point at different times, and why they have been obliged to shift focus. It tells us why philosophy has been thought to bring distinctive skills to questions, and whether these are actually fruitful skills. And, above all, it allows us to open up the question whether philosophy has anything to offer over and above other ways of engaging cognate questions.