RIP Kolakowski

Jillian Bandes | July 22, 2009 12:53 PM

Leszek Kolakowski, a Polish philospher known for his intellectual teardown of communism, has died at age 81. His academic accolades range from a 2003 US Library of Congress Kluge Prize to professorships at Oxford and Berkeley. His wit and approachability are best characterized by the the following quote:

A modern philosopher who has never once suspected himself of being a charlatan must be such a shallow mind that his work is probably not worth reading.