Book review: Socrates tenured: the institutions of 21st-century philosophy by Robert Frodeman and Adam Briggle

In Socrates Tenured: The Institutions of 21st-Century Philosophy, Robert Frodeman and Adam Briggle offer a diagnosis and remedy for the malaise currently gripping the study of philosophy, advocating a ‘field philosophy’ that aims to break free of the strictures of its disciplinary and departmental settings that have led to accusations of insularity and irrelevance. While suggesting that the authors’ claims are particularly applicable to Anglo-American rather than continental strands of contemporary philosophy, this is a lively and provocative attempt to shake up the field that should prompt wider debate, writes Stephen Howard.