A selection of the best from recent issues of the Philosopher

As Kolakowski points out, however, while this led to a consideration of philosophical problems which were worthy in themselves, it also led to a focus which was 'very remote from the real worries of both religious and irreligious peopleí. In contrast, a Continentalist tradition of philosophy of religion developed, which was more concerned with the experiential and symbolic dimensions of religious faith and practice. But this approach also had its limitations, tending towards a certain looseness in its conceptuality and a liking for esoteric terminology. Kolakowskiís approach to philosophy of religion can be seen as belonging to neither and both of these camps at the same time, attempting as he puts it 'a counsel of perfectioní.

Kolakowskiís grasp of the historical development of the 'problemí of religion (with a particularly Christian emphasis) is admirable, and he capably steers the reader through the myriad debates between Augustianism and Thomism, and their foundation in the conflict between Plato and Aristotle: 'Christianity represents a painful compromise between Athens and Jerusalemí. He consistently makes the point that the contemporary debate between religion and science is merely the repetition of age old themes. 

Unlike current protagonists, however, who tend to opt for either the religious paradigm or the scientific paradigm, Kolakowski favours the philosophical paradigm which he interprets as allowing for an affirmation of both perspectives. He is particularly critical of the 'scientismí which would claim to have a monopoly on truth and meaning: 'what might convince me that the criteria applied in modern scientific investigation are at the same time criteria discriminating between what has or has not cognitive value, let alone between what is or is not meaningful?í 

For Kolakowski, so-called scientific evidence remains based on an act of faith, neither more nor less than the religious act of faith; simply to define something as true because it is predictable and has practical application is 'arbitraryí.

Kolakowskiís point here is similar to Wittgensteinís argument concerning 'forms of lifeí: in order to understand religious faith we must see it in the context of a life and practice of worship, and scientific evidence is also culture-bound in this respect. To this extent, religion and science represent world-views rather than truth: 'ultimately, it is a matter of weltanschauungí. 

Developing this point, Kolakowski offers an historical approach to the formation of Christian dogmatics, seeing the development of the conception of the 'personal Godí from an original basis in the Pre-Socratic idea of the One (through Plato and neo-Platonism) and merging with the Christian conception of a loving God.

This analysis has the effect of interpreting Christianity (and indeed religion as such) as fundamentally a cultural and human (rather than divine) phenomenon. In the last analysis, then, Kolakowskiís readings will be palatable to neither religious nor scientific fundamentalists. 

Rather his work is an attempt to make philosophers of us all, philosophy here being defined as the 'shared feeling that the world we know within the limited horizon of our experience is not self-explanatory or even that it is irreal [sic], that its very presence begets the questions 'what is it?í and 'why is it?í. . . a strong feeling that there is something unobvious [sic], alarming,    puzzling, queer, astounding, something    which defies all the ordinary, daily     norms of understandingí.

Reviewed by Jones Irwin