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Modernity on Endless Trial, by Leszek Kolakowski
- Abstract
Polish-born, in the West since the late 60′s, Leszek Kolakowski now divides his time between the universities of Oxford and Chicago. His stature as a philosopher and as an astute commentator on our time is well-established. Aside from his magisterial three-volume history of Marxist thought, he has offered keen insight into the struggle between totalitarianism and liberty, and on the possibilities of religion under modern conditions.
The present volume of essays written in the 1970′s and 80′s begins with reflections on the role of intellectuals in modernity and concludes with thoughts on the nature of theories and ideologies. But the bulk of the essays deal with religion and politics, respectively subsumed under the headings “On the Dilemmas of the Christian Legacy” and “On Liberals, Revolutionaries, and Utopians.” As always with essay collections, the sequence is intended to suggest a unitary argument and only partially succeeds. But what comes through is the voice of the author. It is a rather quiet voice, more thoughtful than insistent, almost always troubled.
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