About the Author

Leszek Kolakowski (1927-2009) was professor of philosophy at the University of Warsaw until the Polish political crisis of March 1968 when he was formally expelled. Hethen moved to universities inNorth America and the United Kingdom.From 1981 to 1994 he was a professor in the Committee on Social Thought andthe department of philosophy at the University of Chicago. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his three-volume history, "Main Currents of Marxism" (1976). In his later work, he increasingly focused on philosophical and religious questions. He was the author of numerous books.

Reviews

These ``semiphilosophical sermons'' by a University of Chicago social theorist consider topics from markets to myth, the devil to Kantian personhood. Ten of the 24 essays have not appeared previously in English. All are clearly and intelligently written, steeped in continental attitudes but still accessible to readers of a more Anglo-American orientation. Especially notable is Kolakowski's defense of Eurocentrism: he argues that propagating the European ideal of cultural self-criticism affirms the equality of cultures without tolerating intolerance. Thoughtful lay readers and some scholars will find this volume interesting.-- Bruce Umbaugh, Univ. of Maryland, College Park

Kolakowski ( The Presence of Myth ) urges caution in embracing the modern. For example, in Marxism, presumed by many to be a scientific, modernist creed, he sees ``the same yearning after the archaic community'' that drove Nazism. These stimulating, deeply learned essays by a University of Chicago philosopher grapple with the pitfalls of both ideological and religious systems, and the capacity of the open society to destroy itself. ``Conservative,'' ``liberal'' and ``socialist'' are no longer mutually exclusive political positions, argues Kolakowski. Perceiving an innate human need for religion, he ponders: ``To reject the sacred is also to reject the idea of evil.'' Along with essays on the exile as outsider, self-deceptions of intellectuals and the Christian roots of modern humanism, there are droll spoofs of philosophy (``The General Theory of Not-Gardening'') and of historical scholarship (``Emperor Kennedy Legend''). (Dec.)