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AUREL KOLNAI was born in Budapest, in 1900 and died in London, in 1973. He was, accordingtoKarlPopperandBernardWilliams, one of the most original, provocative, and sensitive philosophers of the twentieth century. This book aims at providing the reader with the broadest possible overview of Aurel Kolnai’s moral and political philosophy. To achieve this, the volume contains essays written by Kolnai on a wide range of topics and by others on the various aspects of his philosophy. Kolnai’s moral philosophy took its original impetus from Scheler’s value ethics, and was developed by using a natural phenomenologist method. The unique combination of linguistic analysis and phenomenology yields highly original ideas on classical issues of moral theory, such as responsibility and free will, the meaning of right and wrong, the universalisability of ethical norms, the role of moral emotions, internalism vs. externalism. His political philosophical thoughts are no less seminal and insightful: The War Against the West, published in 1938, is one of the early critical books of Nazi thinking, and did much to educate Western opinion. His main political theoretical work, What Is Politics About, is available in English here for the first time. ABOUT THE EDITORS ZOLTÁN BALÁZS is Associate Professor at the Péter Pázmány Catholic University, Budapest –Piliscsaba, and author of The Political Community (Budapest: Osiris, 2003) and Aurel Kolnai (Budapest: Új Mandátum, 2003). FRANCIS DUNLOP is Honorary Lecturer of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, and author of The Life and Thought of Aurel Kolnai (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002) and Early Ethical Writings of Aurel Kolnai (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004). Contributors Loránd Ambrus-Lakatos Zoltán Balázs John D. Beach Lee Congdon Andreas Dorschel Francis Dunlop John P. Hittinger Daniel J. Mahoney Pierre Manent Thomas Norgaard Robert Radford M.W.F. Stone David Wiggins Table of contents Preface About the Contents of This Volume Introduction I. Papers by Kolnai II. Papers about Kolnai’s Work About the Contributors to This Volume Indexes “Kolnai’s natural phenomenological method, and his belief in the importance of philosophy for human life, went closely with a belief that it not only arises out of the everyday reflection of the “plain man” (not to be confused with the “common man”), but must remain in close touch with it. “Common sense is the metaphysics of the Stone Age”, said Bertrand Russell. Kolnai was as far as one could be from this belief. Without for a moment disregarding the contradictions, lack of conceptual subtlety, and other defects to which it is subject, he regarded it as a source of real knowledge , though of course it needed much clarification and correction. In thus respecting the beliefs which arise again and again in the predominantly practical life of man, he may have shown himself a truer democrat than most of the thinkers who would despise his qualified praise of, say, social privilege and hierarchy.” From the Introduction by Francis Dunlop Central European University Press Budapest – New York Sales and information ceupress@ceu.hu Website http://www.ceupress.com E xpl o r i ng t h e w o rl d o f hum a n pra ctice R e a d i n g s i n a n d a b o u t t h e p h i l o s o p h y o f A u r e l K o l n a i C E U PRESS C E U PRESS Exploring the World of Hum an Pr actice edited by zoltán balázs & francis dunlop Re adings in and about the Philosoph y of Aurel Koln ai Edi t e d by Zoltán Bal ázs F r a nc i s D u nlop ISBN 963 9241 97 0 9 789639 241978 90000> ...

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