The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat: A Novel of Ideas

Description

The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat is a brilliant fictional journey through Western political philosophy by one of our most original thinkers. Professor Caritat, a middle-aged Candide, walks naively through the neighbouring countries of Utilitaria, Communitaria and Libertaria, in his quest to find the best of all possible worlds. Cut loose from the confines of his ivory tower, this wandering professor is made to confront the perplexed state of modern thinking in this dazzling comedy of ideas.

Steven Lukes is professor of politics and sociology at New York University, and the the author of Liberals and Cannibals and Moral Relativism. He lives in New York.

"A delightfully edifying comedy." Guardian "Knock-out satirical humour. " Times Literary Supplement "The book is the readiest guide one could have to the assorted extremisms which presently vie in the global marketplace for ideal worlds." Financial Times "Written in a beautifully clear style, full of a keen, serious wit... Lukes achieves both lightness and weight in a way many novelists might envy." Independent