Reason's Inquisition

Reviews / Votes

The central theme of this book is that illicit financial flows prevent African countries from fulfilling the right to development. The book's 14 articles are written mostly by people with a background in law and human rights. This emphasis on the right to development is one reason why many of the articles reference United Nations and African Union (or its predecessors) treaties and charters, and specific articles within them. The definition of illicit financial flows and their cost to Africa are given repeatedly, along with their relationship to the right to development. Multinational corporations, financial institutions, and other actors outside Africa are seen as aiding and abetting the illicit financial flows; their cooperation is necessary for these flows to end. The authors give specific attention to events in Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda with regard to illicit financial flows; they also supply more general articles on the topic. [Illicit] financial flows is an important topic with a wider impact than their hurt to progress in African countries. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. * Choice Reviews * Bringing together years of reflection in a rich volume, Christopher Colmo exemplifies how perceptive and learned readers can draw on thinkers from vastly different historical periods and intellectual traditions to revisit timeless philosophical questions. The reader of this volume will gain valuable insights by following this transhistorical dialogue between eminent thinkers masterfully curated by Christopher Colmo. -- Rasoul Namazi, Duke Kunshan University "Christopher Colmo's book probes the fundamental question which, in contemporary thought, was first asked by Leo Strauss: Can we truly know what the right or best way of life is? He writes crisply and clearly in exploring this question and issues related to it, such as reason and revelation as well as ancients and moderns. He also argues resolutely in favor of the contention that the modern position (which asserts the ultimate priority of the practical) is virtually unavoidable. And he moves beyond even this contention to boldly investigate the unconventional thesis that the modern position itself began not with Machiavelli, Hobbes, or Descartes, but rather with the medieval Islamic thinker, Alfarabi. Colmo's book consistently and uncompromisingly tracks this line of thought through studies of an impressively wide range of thinkers, from Thucydides to Voegelin. His assiduous readings, while certainly challengeable, make his book original and thoughtful-provoking, and likely to be controversial. In view of his basic premise-namely, that Leo Strauss asked about precisely the right thing-this book eminently deserves the attention of all those who recognize the abiding centrality of that fundamental question." -- Kenneth Green, University of Toronto "These clearly written essays offer the reader thoughtful and thought-provoking analyses of important texts in political philosophy, from Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle to Farabi and Averroes, to Shakespeare, Marlowe, Descartes, Hobbes, Montesquieu, and Rousseau, to Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Voegelin and Strauss. They are the result of life-long reflection on questions of political philosophy, especially of philosophy and its relation to political life, and will be valuable reading to anyone interested in those vital questions." -- Timothy W. Burns, Baylor University The insight and depth of Christopher Colmo's discussion of theory and practice, reason and revelation, and ancients and moderns are unrivaled. Each essay has implications for all the others, and understanding comes only through the hard work and delight of thinking. The last essay, 'On Subjectivity,' comparing Socrates and Kierkegaard, is a gem that pulls all the strands of this book together. -- Mary P. Nichols, Emerita Professor of Political Science at Baylor University Christopher Colmo's unfailingly provocative and insightful book centers around several essays on Alfarabi, which further establish his stature as an independent philosopher in the mold of Plato rather than unreliable transmitter of Greek and Muslim ideas. In addition, Colmo offers wide-ranging reflections on related topics in thinkers across the tradition, from Plato to Shakespeare to Heidegger. -- Alexander Orwin, Louisiana State University "Christopher Colmo's probing analysis of Leo Strauss's claim that philosophy constitutes the best way of life should be read by anyone interested in Strauss. You may not agree with the questions Colmo raises or the responses he gives, but his thoughtful observations and queries will force you to question and defend your own understanding. In this collection of essays Colmo extends his analysis of the tensions between theory and practice, reason and revelation, ancients and moderns, moreover, with wonderful pieces on Shakespeare's Macbeth, Voegelin, Thucydides, and Aristotle." -- Catherine Zuckert, University of Notre Dame Colmo has the exceptional merit of questioning his own assumptions, then moving from the doubt thereby engendered to a clearer resolution of his original problem. That procedure is manifest in these essays, which probe the tensions between faith and reason, revelation and philosophic inquiry, and prove him to be a learned, ever solicitous, guide. -- Charles E. Butterworth, Emeritus Professor, University of Maryland "Christopher Colmo's Reason's Inquisition: On Doubtful Ground exhibits a scope and depth attained only in a life devoted to rational inquiry. Conducting this volume's inquiry with unparalleled intrepidity, Colmo scrutinizes his own premises at least as thoroughly as any of the thinkers he examines. And the roster of thinkers examined is long, indeed. Colmo thinks along paths cleared by the thought of Leo Strauss. Which means he must match the historical range of Strauss's own thinking. Accordingly, Plato and Aristotle, Al-Farabi and Maimonides, Descartes, Kierkegaard, and Voegelin are among the many whose work Colmo summons and treats with evident familiarity and insight. Like Strauss, his erudition is not for its own sake. Rather, it serves the task of thinking through distinctions that have informed and continue to inform our theoretically-shaped world: Ancients and Moderns, Reason and Revelation, and, most importantly for Colmo, Theory and Practice. The philosophic examination of these themes is, at times, necessarily abstract, but the aim is to confront the urgent and concrete question of whether reason is adequate to guide life. With respect to each of these distinctions, Colmo pays Strauss appropriate respect by contending thoughtfully with him every step of the way. Colmo's approach encourages readers to contend with him in a similarly thoughtful way. Whether they ultimately agree or disagree, readers come away with the great benefit of having clarified their own premises. In this way, Colmo's book itself provides us powerful evidence of reason's adequacy along with the satisfaction gained from its most significant use." -- Paul Stern, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Ursinus College