Is God Happy?Is God Happy?
Selected Essays
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Book, 2013
Current format, Book, 2013, , No Longer Available.Book, 2013
Current format, Book, 2013, , No Longer Available. Offered in 0 more formatsThe late Leszek Kolakowski was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. A prominent anticommunist writer, Kolakowski was also a deeply humanistic thinker, and his meditations on society, religion, morality, and culture stand alongside his political writings as commentaries on intellectualand everydaylife in the twentieth century.
Kolakowski’s extraordinary empathy, humor, and erudition are on full display in Is God Happy?, the first collection of his work to be published since his death in 2009. Accessible and wide ranging, these essaysmany of them translated into English for the first timetestify to the remarkable scope of Kolakowski’s work. From a provocative and deeply felt critique of Marxist ideology to the witty and self-effacing In Praise of Unpunctuality” to a rigorous analysis of Erasmus’ model of Christianity and the future of religion, these essays distill Kolakowski’s lifelong engagement with the eternal problems of philosophy and some of the most vital questions of our age.
The late Kolakowski, a Polish professor of the history of philosophy and anti-communist writer, collects his writings from 1956 to 2006, many published in English for the first time, translated by his daughter, Agnieszka Kolakowska. Opening with the essay "The Death of Gods," a critique of Soviet Marxism which led to his expulsion from the Communist Party, the essays address topics related to Marxism, socialism, communism, totalitarianism, and ideology; religion, including the role of God in a godless world, secularization, idolatry and celebrity culture, the sacred vs. the profane, and happiness; and modernity and truth in the post-Enlightenment age, including examinations of natural law, reason, truth, and collective identity in terms of the individual, nation, and the Catholic Church. Included are two early, more playful essays on snobbery and unpunctuality. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Translated into English for the first time, this collection of essays from the prominent Polish philosophy professor and anti-communist writer discusses the nature of good and evil, secularism, socialism and the perpetual problems of philosophy. 20,000 first printing.
Offer of a selection of essays on communism and other ideologies, religion, and other topics, some available in English for the first time, by the Polish philosopher who experienced the Nazi occupation and communist rule in his country.
The late Leszek Kolakowski was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. A prominent anticommunist writer, Kolakowski was also a deeply humanistic thinker, and his meditations on society, religion, morality, and culture stand alongside his political writings as commentaries on intellectual&;and everyday&;life in the twentieth century.
Kolakowski&;s extraordinary empathy, humor, and erudition are on full display in Is God Happy?, the first collection of his work to be published since his death in 2009. Accessible and wide ranging, these essays&;many of them translated into English for the first time&;testify to the remarkable scope of Kolakowski&;s work. From a provocative and deeply felt critique of Marxist ideology to the witty and self-effacing &;In Praise of Unpunctuality&; to a rigorous analysis of Erasmus&; model of Christianity and the future of religion, these essays distill Kolakowski&;s lifelong engagement with the eternal problems of philosophy and some of the most vital questions of our age.
Kolakowski’s extraordinary empathy, humor, and erudition are on full display in Is God Happy?, the first collection of his work to be published since his death in 2009. Accessible and wide ranging, these essaysmany of them translated into English for the first timetestify to the remarkable scope of Kolakowski’s work. From a provocative and deeply felt critique of Marxist ideology to the witty and self-effacing In Praise of Unpunctuality” to a rigorous analysis of Erasmus’ model of Christianity and the future of religion, these essays distill Kolakowski’s lifelong engagement with the eternal problems of philosophy and some of the most vital questions of our age.
The late Kolakowski, a Polish professor of the history of philosophy and anti-communist writer, collects his writings from 1956 to 2006, many published in English for the first time, translated by his daughter, Agnieszka Kolakowska. Opening with the essay "The Death of Gods," a critique of Soviet Marxism which led to his expulsion from the Communist Party, the essays address topics related to Marxism, socialism, communism, totalitarianism, and ideology; religion, including the role of God in a godless world, secularization, idolatry and celebrity culture, the sacred vs. the profane, and happiness; and modernity and truth in the post-Enlightenment age, including examinations of natural law, reason, truth, and collective identity in terms of the individual, nation, and the Catholic Church. Included are two early, more playful essays on snobbery and unpunctuality. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Translated into English for the first time, this collection of essays from the prominent Polish philosophy professor and anti-communist writer discusses the nature of good and evil, secularism, socialism and the perpetual problems of philosophy. 20,000 first printing.
Offer of a selection of essays on communism and other ideologies, religion, and other topics, some available in English for the first time, by the Polish philosopher who experienced the Nazi occupation and communist rule in his country.
The late Leszek Kolakowski was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. A prominent anticommunist writer, Kolakowski was also a deeply humanistic thinker, and his meditations on society, religion, morality, and culture stand alongside his political writings as commentaries on intellectual&;and everyday&;life in the twentieth century.
Kolakowski&;s extraordinary empathy, humor, and erudition are on full display in Is God Happy?, the first collection of his work to be published since his death in 2009. Accessible and wide ranging, these essays&;many of them translated into English for the first time&;testify to the remarkable scope of Kolakowski&;s work. From a provocative and deeply felt critique of Marxist ideology to the witty and self-effacing &;In Praise of Unpunctuality&; to a rigorous analysis of Erasmus&; model of Christianity and the future of religion, these essays distill Kolakowski&;s lifelong engagement with the eternal problems of philosophy and some of the most vital questions of our age.
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- New York : Basic Books, 2013.
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