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.

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

Acknowledgements Introduction Philosophy Without Wisdom The Classical Conception of Philosophy The Decline and Fall of the Classical Conception The Wisdom of the Book Revisited Conclusion Notes Index