Leszek Kolakowski

Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski is renowned worldwide for wrestling with serious philosophical conundrums with dazzling elegance. In this new book, he turns his characteristic wit to important themes of ordinary life, from the need for freedom to the wheel of fortune, from the nature of God to the ambiguities of betrayal. Extremely lucid and lacking in intellectual pretension, these essays speak in everyday language, spurring the reader's own thoughts and providing a handle on which to debate and think about the themes. The eighteen essays cover the following topics: power, fame, equality, lying, toleration, travel, virtue, collective responsibility, the wheel of fortune, betrayal, violence, boredom, freedom, luxury, God, respect for nature, superstition, and national stereotypes.

In Search of a Political Philosophy is an analysis of the three democratic `isms' - conservatism, liberalism and socialism - and of the distinct nature of the all-devouring ideology - Marxist communism. The author is concerned with the conscious and unconscious assumptions of the proponents and followers of each ideology, and those of their theoreticians and critics. The following questions are addressed: * By what norms are political ideologies characterized and which of them are given precedence? * How does each ideology view such issues as freedom and restraint, responsibility, equality, justice, power, authority, property, human nature and happiness? * What are the areas of ideological contiguity and those of mutual influence? * Where do the forces that split Western societies become visible? * What are the sources of ideological incomprehension in our society? While taking issue with the stances of some leading political theorists, this work is an original contribution to political philosophy in its own right. It provides a stimulating challenge to students in politics, government, political philosophy, ethics, political and social theory, the history of political thought, and the history of ideas.

An anthology of the best work of an absolutely essential philosopher of the modern American experience, this reader brings together West's essays on race, religion, politics, philosophy and the arts.