Metaphysical Horror - Hardcover

KOLAKOWSKI

3.98

224 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0631159592 ISBN 13: 9780631159599

Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell, 1988

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This is about nothing less than the search for the Absolute. The author argues that this search has a persistent cultural foundation. He attempts to show that in its most radical forms - the Neoplatonic "One" and the Cartesian "cogito" - the Absolute slides into nothing. There seems to be both a logical and historical inevitability in the process. Kolakowski is not content, however, with this tendency of the Absolute to disintegrate. He believes that this apparently discouraging result does not deprive the inquiry of its legitimacy. He offers no "solutions" to the intractable question, but rather a tentative, playful way out.

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About the Author:

Leszek Kolakowski is the author of many books, among them God Owes Us Nothing, The Presence of Myth, Tales from the Kingdom of Lailonia and The Key to Heaven, and Modernity on Endless Trial, all published by the University of Chicago Press.

From the Inside Flap:

'A modern philosopher who has never once suspected himself of being a charlatan,' writes Leszek Kolakowski at the start of this endlessly stimulating book, 'must be such a shallow mind that his work is probably not worth reading.'

For over a century, philosophers have argued that philosophy is impossible or useless, or both. Although the basic agenda dates back tot he days of Socrates, there is still disagreement about the nature of truth, reality, knowledge, good and God. This may make little practical difference to our lives, but it leaves us with a feeling of radical uncertainty described by Kolakowski as 'metaphysical horror'. Is there any way out of this cul-de-sac? This trenchant analysis confronts these dilemmas head on. Philosophy may not provide definitive answers to the fundamental questions, yet the quest itself transforms our lives. It may undermine most of our certainties, yet it still leaves room for our spiritual yearnings and religious beliefs. Kolakowski has forged a dazzling demonstration of philosophy in action. It is up to readers to take up the challenge of his arguments.

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