How to be a Failure and Still Live Well: A Philosophy

In consumer economies, success has increasingly been defined in terms of material attainment and the achievement of status. This model of ‘the good life’ and its formulas for success ignore the haunting possibility that one may not succeed and as a result be deemed ‘a failure’. How to be a Failure and Still Live Well explores that often neglected theme of failure, not just as the opposite of achievement, but also, and more importantly, how it has been conflated with loss: that which haunts all transient, mortal human experience. Understanding loss as a form of failure affects our ability to cope with the everyday losses that permeate existence as a result of the natural processes of ageing, death, and decay. Engaging with loss and thinking about what it inevitability means for our lives and commitments, allows different values to emerge than those connected to success as attainment. Relationships, spontaneity, and generosity are explored as qualities that arise from taking seriously our vulnerability and that form the basis for richer accounts of what it might mean to ‘live well’.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introduction: Failure: And How to Live Well Chapter 1: Success, Failure, and the 21st Century Good Life Chapter 2: Women, Failure, and the Fear of Loss Chapter 3: Death and Sickness, Loss and Failure Chapter 4: Factoring Out Failure, Factoring Out Humanity: Bureaucracy, Metrics, and the Loss of Spontaneity Chapter 5: From Homo Economicus to Homo Religiosus: Remaking the Human Chapter 6: Accepting Failure, Embracing Loss Conclusion: Being a Failure and Living Well Bibliography

About the Author :
Beverley Clack is Professor in the Philosophy of Religion at Oxford Brookes University. Her publications include: Interrogating the Neoliberal Lifecycle: The Limits of Success, co-edited with Michele Paule (2019); Philosophy of Religion: A Critical Introduction, co-authored with Brian R Clack (3rd edition 2019); Freud on the Couch (2013); Feminist Philosophy of Religion: Critical Readings, co-edited with Pamela Sue Anderson (2004); Sex and Death: A Reappraisal of Human Mortality (2002); and Misogyny in the Western Philosophical Tradition (1999). From 2012-16 she was City Councillor for St Clements Ward in Oxford, and from 2016-2018 she was a member of the Labour Party’s National Policy Forum. She is a member of the Methodist Church’s Faith and Order Committee, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Review :
Nothing succeeds like success? Perhaps not. How to be a Failure and Still Live Well is a powerful rejection of the language of ‘success' that dominates contemporary neo-liberal culture. Blending philosophy and personal experience Beverley Clack gives a moving defense of the necessity of loss and failure in building relationships, identity and a meaningful life. This splendid book gives us a picture of the kind of fuller existence we can aspire to as individuals who choose our own response to tragedy and as members of a community that does not rely on false optimism or selfish calculation to bind itself together. Thought-provoking and compelling, Bev Clack takes us into the heart of failure and loss, with personal depth and engaging philosophical and theological insights. Clack raises profoundly important questions and offers no easy answers - but helps the reader to engage more deeply with life, aided by failure and loss. With characteristic wisdom, insight, humanity and wit, Clack shows us how dwelling with our failures can make genuine flourishing possible. This is philosophy at its best – philosophy that contributes to the shared human endeavour of living a good life, engaging deftly with psychology, politics, theology, feminist theory, literature and art. The threat of failure is ever-present, but hardly ever openly examined. This thoughtful, honest and often moving book examines why so many of us are haunted by failure. Its erudite and detailed diagnosis of the reasons for widespread feelings of failure across modern societies makes for both fascinating and inspiring reading. With characteristic wisdom, insight, humanity and wit, Clack shows us how dwelling with our failures can make genuine flourishing possible. This is philosophy at its best – philosophy that contributes to the shared human endeavour of living a good life, engaging deftly with psychology, politics, theology, feminist theory, literature and art.