Customer Reviews

The Tacit Mode: Michael Polanyi's Postmodern Philosophy (Suny Series in Constructive Postmodern Thought)

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Michael Polanyi was a chemist turned philosopher who made quite an original contributtion to 20th century thought.
He challenged the way in which ideas were conceived and spread.
This book is a very readable critical overview of Polanyi's philosophy, which I bought because I had read Personal Knowledge (perhaps Polanyi's master work).
The author does not take a fawning attitude as if often the case, and does not hesitate to tell you where he thinks Polanyi is confused or superficial, and so
it is a valuable complement to original author.
You dont have to have a vast philosophical culture to read this, the author leads you along. It seems he must be a very good teacher.
I do recommend that you buy or borrow Polanyi's Personal Knowledge before you read this anyway and is actually very enjoyable and stimulating.
But you can read this book on its own and get a lot out of it. You can even read a bit here and a bit there and find it relatively understandable.
You will also have some concepts to deal with postmodern thouoght.

This is an excellent review of Polanyi's work and its place in the history of philosophy--especially as it relates to contemporary tought.