/lit/ - Literature

Is philosophy dead? Has science killed it?

Recently I've been wondering why exactly philosophy stagnated in the late 19th century.

Take a look at contemporary philosophers: There are atheist philosophers like Dawkins and Harris who merely apply common sense to theological arguments. There are philosophy teachers/popularizers like Chalmers and Nagel who only repeat and spread what former generations of philosophers invented several centuries ago. And then there's the stand-up comedian Zizek. But what you won't find is anything new. Throughout the 20th century and in our time of the 21st century no new idea, no new concept has been introduced in philosophy. It appears the great thinkers of the past were the last of their kind and now philosophy is merely a shadow of its former self, and the people representing it are merely conserving existing thought instead of advancing the field.

So what killed philosophy? Is it because most of what was previously considered philosophy has been taken over by science and math? Is it because our modern society forces the intelligent thinkers to pursue a more productive and more profitable career instead of philosophy? Or are the possible questions, ideas and concepts truly limited and everything that can be thought has already been thought?

Has anyone written a book or an academic text on the topic?