This book examines critically the most important claims made on behalf of philosophy. It presents the case for a more modest view of what philosophy can accomplish, after rejecting as chimerical the ambitious claims of traditional, especially foundational, epistemology and metaphysics.

Kai Nielsen is emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Calgary. He is the author of many books and articles on ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and metaphilosophy.

Preface -- Introduction: Viewing Philosophy -- Part I: Philosophy as Metaphysics -- 1. Speculative Metaphysics -- 2. Metaphysics and A Priori Knowledge -- Part Il: Philosophy as Epistemology -- 3. Epistemology and Skepticism -- 4. The Foundationalist Quest -- Part Ill: Philosophy as Critique -- 5. Philosophy and the Problems of Life -- 6. Critique and Meta-Inquiries -- Concluding-Remarks: An Anticipatory Postscript -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Book and Author.