Freedom, Fame, Lying and Betrayal: Essays on Everyday Life

by Leszek Kołakowski

In eighteen short essays, one of the world's most admired living philosophers reflects on the important themes of everyday life. 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 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.

Genres: Philosophy, Essays

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Distinguished Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analysis of Marxist thought, especially his acclaimed three-volume history, Main Currents of Marxism. In his later work, Kolakowski increasingly focused on religious questions. In his 1986 Jefferson Lecture, he asserted that "We learn history not in order to know how to behave or how to succeed, but to know who we are.”

In Poland, Kołakowski is not only revered as a philosopher and historian of ideas, but also as an icon for opponents of communism. Adam Michnik has called Kołakowski "one of the most prominent creators of contemporary Polish culture".

Kołakowski died on 17 July 2009, aged 81, in Oxford, England. In his obituary, philosopher Roger Scruton said Kolakowski was a "thinker for our time" and that regarding Kolakowski's debates with intellectual opponents, "even if ... nothing remained of the subversive orthodoxies, nobody felt damaged in their ego or defeated in their life's project, by arguments which from any other source would have inspired the greatest indignation."

Reviews

[Sushil Goswami · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read. Some chapters I found myself skipping as the central idea in them seemed forced.

[Michael Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

his concision leads him in to some glib statements, eg war isn't boring

[Salahuddin Hourani]

ملاحظة لي - لم اقرا الكتاب بعد

عن الحيرة الدائمة والملازمة لاي قرار نريد اتخاذه في العصر الحديث ، فلا شيء صلب وراسخ ويمكن الوثوق به دائما ، فالارض تحتنا دائما تميد

[Zineb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that makes you think and see things from many different perspectives is worth reading. There were things I agreed and disagreed with, I got quite frustrated when it came to the whole "religion talk." One's got to make sure that what they're blabbering about when it comes to religion is true and is not just based on what everyone's come to believe throughout the years. All in all, this book's definitely got essays on topics that would surely interest an individual and so I highly recommend it to those who just want to chill out with a cup of coffee and a short book that can be read in one sitting and makes one think.

[Darran Mclaughlin]

Slightly disappointing. I'm a big fan of philosophical essays, the Waste Books of Lichtenberg being the standard I judge them against, but this is just a collection of unreflectingly eurocentric generalizations in which he assumes your assent to far to many contentious opinions. I suppose this isn't one of his major works, but I was expecting better after reading Tony Judt's lavish praise for him in Reappraisals.