The Rediscovery of Wisdom

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • David Conway

   Pages 1-5

3. Philosophy without Wisdom

   • David Conway

   Pages 6-30

4. The Classical Conception of Philosophy

   • David Conway

   Pages 31-78

5. The Decline and Fall of the Classical Conception

   • David Conway

   Pages 79-133

6. The Wisdom of the Book Revisited

   • David Conway

   Pages 134-170

7. Conclusion

   • David Conway

   Pages 171-176

8. Back Matter

   Pages 177-196

   PDF

By reconstructing it and tracing its vicissitudes, David Conway rehabilitates a time-honoured conception of philosophy, originating in Plato and Aristotle, which makes theoretical wisdom its aim. Wisdom is equated with possessing a demonstrably correct understanding of why the world exists and has the broad character it does. Adherents of this conception maintained the world to be the demonstrable creation of a divine intelligence in whose contemplation supreme human happiness resides. Their claims are defended against various latter-day scepticisms.

• Aristotle
• philosophy
• Plato

'Many will be sympathetic to David Conway's theme, that of the loss of wisdom in our era and, more specifically, the repudiation by philosophy of its ancient goal of seeking and communicating wisdom. The Rediscovery of Wisdom is a distinctive and valuable contribution to philosophy, which deserves careful consideration.' - Anthony O'Hear, Professor of Philosophy, University of Bradford

'David Conway has taken a bold and unusual step in his book on philosophic wisdom. Briefly, what he seeks to do is to bring God back into the picture. Conway's target is the secularism and militant atheism that has, he says, become de rigeur for the western intellectual. Whether you agree with Conway's defence of philosophical theism or not, this is a thought-provoking book, likely to appeal to the reflective reader, disturbed by the prevailing secularising traditions of both empiricism and fashionable postmodernism. It deserves to be taken seriously.' - Brenda Almond, Professor of Philosophy, University of Hull

'It takes real courage and determination to attack new orthodoxies. This is what David Conway has set out to do in The Rediscovery of Wisdom. His clearly expressed argument is that philosophy has declined as it has moved away from its traditional aims of describing the ultimate nature of reality and the meaning of life. Adopting Conway's perspective we can see why so much contemporary philosophy seems trivial. The Rediscovery of Wisdom is a welcome and timely challenge. It deserves to be widely read - and thought about.' - John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy, University of St Andrews

'In The Rediscovery of Wisdom, David Conway puts forward a bold and original thesis which deserves careful consideration from all interested in the relationship between philosophy and religion.' - Professor Hyam and Cynthia Maccoby

• School of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Middlesex University, UK

  David Conway

David Conway is Professor of Philosophy at Middlesex University. His previous publications include A Farewell to Marx and Classical Liberalism.

Policies and ethics