What do you think?
Rate this book
A Shestov Anthology
Book by Shestov, Lev
- GenresPhilosophy
328 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
3 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Lev Shestov
74 books219 followersLev Isaakovich Shestov (Russian: Лев Исаа́кович Шесто́в), born Yehuda Leyb Schwarzmann (Russian: Иегуда Лейб Шварцман), variously known as Leon Shestov, Léon Chestov, Leo Shestov.
A Ukrainian/Russian existentialist philosopher. Born in Kiev (Russian Empire). He emigrated to France in 1921, fleeing from the aftermath of the October Revolution. He lived in Paris until his death.
A Ukrainian/Russian existentialist philosopher. Born in Kiev (Russian Empire). He emigrated to France in 1921, fleeing from the aftermath of the October Revolution. He lived in Paris until his death.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 1, 2016
To read Shestov is to try to wrap your hand around mist: you know it's there, you can sense its coolness and see the wisps, but it will always escape your grasp when you try to get a firm grip on it. It doesn't stop you from trying, and indeed to try is part of the enjoyment. But he evades you, and you learn to like him more because of it.
I will tell you what I think, and will return here later as I continue reading this and other volumes of his, to see if my assessment will stick:
I think he takes the challenge of Naive Realism seriously -- which is something practically every other philosopher in history has resisted, perhaps even feared, doing. What does he want us to do with the knowledge of this problem? I think his aim is primarily ethical and metacognitive. I think he wants an environment of absolute intellectual liberty for the individual and I think he wants to push us to faith, in direct contrast to certainty. Beyond that—what? How do we attain knowledge? How do we determine where to place our faith? Maybe if I persist, I will be able, through many angles of entry, to make out the vaguest outline of his via.
What he denies is more or less clear, but what he affirms is more elusive.
I will tell you what I think, and will return here later as I continue reading this and other volumes of his, to see if my assessment will stick:
I think he takes the challenge of Naive Realism seriously -- which is something practically every other philosopher in history has resisted, perhaps even feared, doing. What does he want us to do with the knowledge of this problem? I think his aim is primarily ethical and metacognitive. I think he wants an environment of absolute intellectual liberty for the individual and I think he wants to push us to faith, in direct contrast to certainty. Beyond that—what? How do we attain knowledge? How do we determine where to place our faith? Maybe if I persist, I will be able, through many angles of entry, to make out the vaguest outline of his via.
What he denies is more or less clear, but what he affirms is more elusive.
March 1, 2010
The best introduction to Shestov.
December 15, 2014
better to read the various individual volumes, but this is a representative selection
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews