Description: Ranked by many scholars as one of the most important moral philosophers of the twentieth century, Aurel Kolnai has been inexplicably neglected in this country until quite recently. He is best known for his works of political philosophy, recently published under the title The Utopian Mind: A Critical Study in Moral and Political Philosophy. Here, for the first time ever in English, is Kolnai's magnum opus, his Political Memoirs, superbly annotated and edited by Francesca Murphy of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. The memoirs recount the author's life, from his childhood in the turn-of-the-century Austro-Hungarian Empire to his education in Germany and his early professional life in prewar Vienna. It was in these formative years that he converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism and began his career as a writer and philosopher. The narrative continues through his years in exile in the United States and Canada, where he lived before ultimately settling in Great Britain and being granted citizenship in 1955.
Review Quotes:
"Karl Popper wrote, "I personally think I could learn more from Kolnai, by way of stimulation, than from any other thinker in the field of political philosophy alive." . . . There seems finally to be a (slowly) growing recognition of Kolnai's achievements; . . . now we have Kolnai's provocative memoirs, nicely edited by Francesca Murphy." --Lee Congdon, James Madison University
"Political Memoirs is a personal, passionate account of a man who was witness to and perceptive about the major events of the beginning and middle of the twentieth century. Kolnai writes from a cultural background with which few will be familiar. Yet he managed to know many of the leading intellectual figures and movements of this era. These memoirs are full of personal insight that, as an autobiography should, constantly touch on ultimate things. . . . With a combination of frustration and amusement, Kolnai pointed out the modern difficulty in understanding genuine conservative thought." --Rev. James V. Schall S.J., Georgetown University