Philosophers since the time of Aristotle have been drawn to the human tension between viability and fallibility. For Augustine failure was part of original sin, for Boethius it was bad fortune, for Schopenhauer it shaped his pessimism and for Sartre it gave rise to 'bad faith'. Failure is pervasive and inevitable - epistemologically, cognitively, biologically and morally. In this book, Colin Feltham focuses on perceived individual embodied failure, i.e. what it is to be a failure and to live a failed life, or rather, why we think the way we do. Is there a way, he asks, of living that transcends the dichotomy of success and failure? He brings a much needed perspective on our perpetual striving towards perfectibility. Time to accept our non-omniscience and to rethink what it means to fail.

"This is not a book to read if you are prone to self-pity, or want a reason not to bother. It would not, I imagine, be high on the biblio-therapy lists for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy patients! But if you want to immerse yourself in an erudite and exceedingly well-written treatise by a man who seems to be essentially compassionate about his world and the other people who have tried to understand its vagaries and its occasional cruelties, I can recommend it.'"

Source: The Psychologist

"An intriguing but exasperating counterpoint to the plethora of commentaries on success, happiness, wellbeing, and all things psychologically positive that litter the media and bookshelves.'"

Source: Therapy Today