Metaphysical Horror

This is about nothing less than the search for the Absolute. The author argues that this search has a persistent cultural foundation. He attempts to show that in its most radical forms - the Neoplatonic "One" and the Cartesian "cogito" - the Absolute slides into nothing. There seems to be both a logical and historical inevitability in the process. Kolakowski is not content, however, with this tendency of the Absolute to disintegrate. He believes that this apparently discouraging result does not deprive the inquiry of its legitimacy. He offers no "solutions" to the intractable question, but rather a tentative, playful way out. This work is about nothing less than the search for the Absolute. The author argues that this search has a persistent cultural foundation. At the same time, he attempts to show that in its most radical forms - the Neoplatonic "One" and the Cartesian "cogito" - the Absolute slides into nothing.