“By definition philosophy is the land of language confusion and, consequently, it is impossible to reach agreement on the criteria of the rule of law”.

Leszek Kolakowski (1927-2009) was one of Poland’s most prominent philosophers.

He is considered to be one of the greats of the 20th century philosophy and an inspiring force behind the struggle for liberal democracy Eastern Europe.

He lived outside of Poland for many years, taught at the All Souls College in Oxford and focused on the history of philosophy and, especially, on 18^th century liberalism.

Kolakowski was also dealing with the history of ideas and he was one of the founders of the Warsaw School of the History of Ideas.

He was opposed to the Communist regime in Poland and supported the Solidarity movement.

Kolakowski won a number of prizes and, actually, in 2007 he was awarded the Jerusalem Prize.