Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?

Informationen zum Autor Leszek Kolakowski (1927-2009), born in Radom, Poland, was Professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw until expelled from that post for political reasons by the Communist authorities in 1968. He left Poland that same year and from 1970 was Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He was also Professor at the Committee on Social Thought at the University at Chicago. He is the author of, among others, Main Currents of Marxism , Religion , Bergson , God Owes us Nothing and Horror Metaphysicus ; a large number of essay collections, among them Modernity on Endless Trial , The Two Eyes of Spinoza , Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing? and Freedom, Fame, Lying and Betrayal ; and three books of stories, The Key to Heaven , Conversations with the Devil and Tales from the Kingdom of Lailonia . He was the recipient of many honorary doctorates, both in Europe and in the US, and many prizes and awards - among them the Erasmus Prize, the Prix Tocqueville, the Jefferson Prize, the MacArthur award and the Kluge Prize. Klappentext Can nature make us happy? How can we know anything? What is justice? Why is there evil in the world? What is the source of truth? Is it possible for God not to exist? Can we really believe what we see? There are questions that have intrigued the world's great thinkers over the ages, which still touch a cord in all of us today. They are questions that can teach us about the way we live, work, relate to each other and see the world. Here, one of the world's greatest living philosophers, Leszek Kolakowski, explores the essence of these ideas, introducing figures from Socrates to Thomas Aquinas, Descartes to Nietzsche and concentrating on one single important philosophical question from each of them. Whether reflecting on good and evil, truth and beauty, faith and the soul, or free will and consciousness, Kolakowski shows that these timeless ideas remain at the very core of our existence. Zusammenfassung There are questions that have intrigued the world's great thinkers over the ages. They are questions that can teach us about the way we live, relate to each other and see the world. This work explores the essence of these ideas, introducing figures from Socrates to Thomas Aquinas, and concentrates on one philosophical question from each of them....

Auteur
Leszek Kolakowski (1927-2009), born in Radom, Poland, was Professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw until expelled from that post for political reasons by the Communist authorities in 1968. He left Poland that same year and from 1970 was Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He was also Professor at the Committee on Social Thought at the University at Chicago. He is the author of, among others, Main Currents of Marxism, Religion, Bergson, God Owes us Nothing and Horror Metaphysicus; a large number of essay collections, among them Modernity on Endless Trial, The Two Eyes of Spinoza, Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing? and Freedom, Fame, Lying and Betrayal; and three books of stories, The Key to Heaven, Conversations with the Devil and Tales from the Kingdom of Lailonia. He was the recipient of many honorary doctorates, both in Europe and in the US, and many prizes and awards - among them the Erasmus Prize, the Prix Tocqueville, the Jefferson Prize, the MacArthur award and the Kluge Prize.

Texte du rabat

Can nature make us happy? How can we know anything? What is justice? Why is there evil in the world? What is the source of truth? Is it possible for God not to exist? Can we really believe what we see?

There are questions that have intrigued the world's great thinkers over the ages, which still touch a cord in all of us today. They are questions that can teach us about the way we live, work, relate to each other and see the world. Here, one of the world's greatest living philosophers, Leszek Kolakowski, explores the essence of these ideas, introducing figures from Socrates to Thomas Aquinas, Descartes to Nietzsche and concentrating on one single important philosophical question from each of them.

Whether reflecting on good and evil, truth and beauty, faith and the soul, or free will and consciousness, Kolakowski shows that these timeless ideas remain at the very core of our existence.

Résumé
There are questions that have intrigued the world's great thinkers over the ages. They are questions that can teach us about the way we live, relate to each other and see the world. This work explores the essence of these ideas, introducing figures from Socrates to Thomas Aquinas, and concentrates on one philosophical question from each of them.