Why is there something rather than nothing? 23 questions from great philosophers

Review by Booklist Review

Kolakowski is a historian of Western philosophy, well acquainted with virtually every major thinker in that tradition. Fortunately, and despite a major academic reputation, he is also a clear, congenial expositor. These short pieces on what lines of thought in the work of 23 philosophers, from the pre-Socratics Heraclitus and Parmenides to the early-twentieth-century figures Bergson and Husserl, particularly interest him because of the questions they provoke are never less than comprehensible. Reasoning about rather than psychoanalyzing or biographically explaining each philosopher he considers (even Kierkegaard, whose writings are tightly bound up with his biography ), Kolakowski pursues a question with the philosopher (e.g., in the case of Hume, What can we know? ) to the ends that thinker reached (with Hume, that truth cannot be ascertained through reasoning) and then turns on them (to Hume's conclusion, he counters, Can we go on living comfortably if we believe this? ). Answering Kolakowski's questions is up to each reader. After reading and enjoying each discussion, most readers will feel up to the challenge.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2007 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Library Journal Review

In this brief overview, Kolakowski (senior research fellow, All Souls Coll., Oxford; Main Currents of Marxism) examines ideas and questions raised by past philosophers who have "opened up new directions of thought for future generations," among them Socrates, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, and Nietzsche. He explains that the book is not meant to be an introduction to philosophy, but an examination of the essential ideas in each of these philosophers' thought. The brief chapters, arranged in chronological sections, end with questions and contradictions that arise from their theories. Instead of answering these questions, the author leaves them for the reader to ponder. The book's strength is Kolakowski's choice of philosophers, whose topics cover a broad range, from the existence of God to epistemology and ethics. What's more, the writing is clear and straightforward, which makes the collection accessible for those new to philosophy. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.-Scott Duimstra, Capital Area Dist. Lib., Lansing, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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