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.

In these essays, one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century examines communism and socialism, the problem of evil, Erasmus and the reform of the church, reason and truth, and whether God is happy. Accessible and absorbing, the essays deal with some of the eternal problems of philosophy and the vital questions of our age. Several of these essays were originally written in English; others were written in Polish and appear here in English for the first time.

Renowned philosopher Leszek Kolakowski was one of the first scholars to reveal both the shortcomings and the dangers posed by communist regimes. He now presents, for the first time in one paperback volume, his definitive Main Currents of Marxism A prophetic work, according to the Library of Congress, that provides the most lucid and comprehensive history of the origins, structure, and posthumous development of the system of thought that had the greatest impact on the 20th century. "

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 topics: power, fame,...