Leszek Kołakowski Born in Radom in 1927, Kolakowski is the outstanding living Polish philosopher. He has lived in exile since 1968 and is currently a Fellow of All Saints' College at Oxford.
His primary interest is the history of philosophy, especially since the eighteenth century liberalism, the philosophy of culture, and the philosophy of religion. Aside from philosophical texts, Kolakowski has written literary works. These, however, are closely associated with the author's professional concerns, and would have to be classed as philosophical tales (Thirteen Tales from the Kingdom of Lailonia and Conversations with the Devil). In these tales, Kolakowski uses an accessible and attractive literary form to analyze philosophical problems and paradoxes and to present discussions among different philosophical schools and doctrines. These stories are marked by intelligent wit and a mastery of literary conventions and styles, especially in the Biblical tales.
Kolakowski's books long appeared in Poland in underground editions, playing a prominent role in shaping the Polish intellectual opposition. Especially significant was the essay The Chaplain and the Jester, which analyzed the attitudes of the intelligentsia toward authority. The first text of Kolakowski's to be confiscated by the censor - and, subsequently, the first to begin to function underground - was the 1956 manifesto What is Socialism?, which he wrote for Po prostu magazine.
In 1996, Leszek Kolakowski recorded ten short lectures on issues in the philosophy of culture (on authority, tolerance, betrayal, equality, fame, and falsehood, among others) for Polish Television. These were then published in book form as Mini-Lectures on Maxi-Issues.
More details about bibliography and translations:
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