Lev Shestov: Philosopher of the Sleepless Night | Matthew Beaumont

 

Now for something a bit more fun (in a Russian existentialist sort of way). Shestov is your go-to guy for destroying all illusions. He’s anti-necessity, anti-certainty, anti-bullshit — and Beaumont brings him alive beautifully.

Fleeing the Russian Revolution, Shestov ended up in interwar Paris, raging against science, reason, and the pretensions of philosophy. You can know nothing that matters. Words are a distraction. Anything can happen. He’s the dark prophet of unpredictability, showing why neoliberalism — with its fantasies of objectivity, control, and progress — is completely deranged. Shestov knew it wouldn’t end well. And now here we are.

 

– Roger Hallam
Read Roger’s top ten list of books from prison here.