Where do we go from here? Or is the question Where should we go from here? Or, perhaps, it is Where might we go from here? Hopefully, this book has given you the tools you need not only to distinguish among these questions but also to begin answering them for yourself. By way of conclusion, though, I would like to suggest some paths that you might follow.

In the Introduction I used the metaphor of a country to illustrate how we might think about the history of philosophy. Just as countries have successive eras organized around different ideas and questions, so too does philosophy. Furthermore, no country exists without internal and external resistance. With Nietzsche and Levinas we saw that one of the tasks of philosophy could be calling into question the very foundations of philosophy itself. This internal resistance can also take the form of very pointed questions about race, class, and gender. How has philosophy treated women? How has philosophy treated people of color? How has it treated the poor? Historically, the answers to these questions have been “not very well” or silence. Shifting philosophy away from its insular focus has been a driving force behind much recent work in the field. In many cases, however, those arguing for a new focus for philosophy have marshaled the resources provided by traditional philosophy. They find that, for example, Nietzsche’s account of value formation allows them to analyze values – such as patriarchy or racial privilege – that Nietzsche himself did not. Or Spinoza’s anti-essentialism allows some to criticize identity politics that produces an us versus them mentality. Of course, the important thing that is happening as philosophy continues to develop is the invention of new concepts and new modes of analysis that allow us to ask anew the questions of philosophy.

The external resistance to the kind of philosophy we have explored here comes in the form of other traditions of philosophy.