The philosopher Leszek Kolakowski (born 1927), beginning his work in Poland and continuing it in the United States and England, brought excitement into philosophy as a continuing ethical, metaphysical, and spiritual venture.

Leszek Kolakowski earned a double distinction in 20th-century philosophy: He was one of the few Eastern European philosophers to earn an international reputation. And, at a time when most professional philosophers narrowed their interests to technical problems and wrote for other philosophers, Kolakowski broke out of the academic mold, addressing a wide public audience on classical themes of ethics, metaphysics, and religion.

Born in Radom, Poland, on October 23, 1927, he lived in his native land until mid-career. World War II prevented his completion of high school, but he studied energetically to pass the entrance examinations for the University of Lodz. At the age of 18 he joined the Communist Party, attracted by the utopian idealism of Marxism and by...