A Philosophical Investigation (Paperback)

by Philip Kerr (Author) "'THE UNFORTUNATE VICTIM, twenty-five-year-old Mary Woolnoth, was found naked in the basement of the offices of the Mylae Shipping Company in Jermyn Street, where she..." (more)
Key Phrases: Lombroso Program, Home Office, Doctor Blackwell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Semantics, epistemology and serial murder share center stage in this imaginative but unconvincing near-future thriller. The year is 2013, and European researchers have discovered a physiological basis for violent criminal tendencies in men. The Lombroso program in Britain screens possible subjects and maintains a database of those diagnosed with the condition, as aids to law enforcement--serial killings have become terrifyingly common. When a previously law-abiding pharmacist is diagnosed as "VDM-negative" (potentially dangerous), he breaks into the program's computer system, removes his name from the records and begins systematically assassinating other men on the list. In London, Chief Inspector Isadora "Jake" Jakowicz takes on the case and begins a philosophical cat-and-mouse game with the killer, code-named Wittgenstein. Kerr ( A German Requiem ) interpolates passages from the murderer's journals into the third-person narrative, along with citations from the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and other philosophers. But the cliches and improbabilities of the plot are not camouflaged by their outlandish context, as Kerr overplays his most original ideas, delivering the details of his futuristic vision in a distracting gee-whiz manner. The frequent philosophical discussions, as they are drawn out, become less convincing and more ostentatious.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
Kerr leaps from postwar Germany (A German Requiem, 1991, etc.) to London in 2013 to tell a challenging story of freelance social engineering. Fear of epidemic serial killings has prompted the creation of the Lombroso Institute, which has isolated VMN, a neurological inhibitor of male aggression, and compiled an exhaustive list of men deficient in that substance. One man, shocked that he has tested VMN-negative, breaks into Lombroso's database, retrieves the names of other negatives, and uses them as a hit-list, killing men who fit the neurological profile of potential serial killers. Before he erased his own files, the killer was code-named Ludwig Wittgenstein, and as Wittgenstein he conducts an intricate dialogue with Inspector Isadora (Jake) Jakowicz - the man-hating officer who's put another serial-killing investigation on the back burner in order to nail him - comparing detective work to philosophical inquiry and raising questions about knowledge, proof, and reality in unnervingly dramatic contexts. Kerr doesn't stint on either the technical or the philosophical side of his futuristic landscape: the result is the bleakest, brainiest thriller to come along in years. (Kirkus Reviews)

Philip Kerr makes an excursion into the future in his A Philosophical Investigation and manages to contribute to both the eponymous genres. Misandric Inspector Jakowitz finds herself chasing a killer who calls himself Wittgenstein through a near-future London of virtual porn and genetic typing of the violent; beyond the text, an argument about responsibility is being comprehensively made. Under treatment for a future aggression that is unproven but written into his genes in this forbidding computer-world, the killer assumes the social duty of disposing of others with the same condition. Brilliantly, frighteningly inventive, a vulture's feast for the intellect, it makes 'Brave New World' read like a nursery tale. (Kirkus UK) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Plume (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452271401
• ISBN-13: 978-0452271401
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #601,130 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars metaphysical metamystery, March 31, 2002

By	Vince Leo (minneapolis, mn USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Solving the murder is the easy part of A Philosophical Investigation. FigurIng out which mystery Philip Kerr is actually trying to solve takes a little longer. Is it the brutal death of a woman or the metaphysics of reading?; a computer beak-in or the poetics of William Blake? Maybe Kerr's book is simply a complicated case of mistaken identity: an innovative treatise on moral philosophy disguised as a riveting feminist science-fiction detective novel.

Ostensibly about a meta-serial killer (a serial killer who kills potential serial killers) in the London of 2013, A Philosophical Investigation is composed of two distinct narratives. One is the blow-by-blow account of investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Isadora "Jake" Jakowicz. Abused by her father and harassed by her superiors, DCI Jakowicz is fighting Western Civilization's newest epidemic-"hollywood-style, recreational murders," media-generated, purposeless, ritualistic acts of male violence against women.

The second narrative is composed of diary entries by the serial-killer, codenamed "Wittgenstein" (the famous philosopher whose last work is titled-what else?-Philosophical Investigations). Part computer hacker, part dedicated public servant, part philosopher, "Wittgenstein" routinely gets his kicks by raping, killing, and mutilating computer generated images of women on his "Reality Approximation" machine in the virtual reality/privacy of his own apartment/mind. The problems begin when he decides to become a real world vigilante.

The alternating narratives also create a weird montage of current scientific and philosophical positions. Between the two of them, Jackowicz and Wittgenstein cover everything from the sexual symbolism of the brain to the mystical power of common names. By the time the narratives actually intersect, Kerr has shaken up most of our common assumptions about everything from free will to media manipulation, gender relations, political correctness, and the biology of morality.

Despite the "wonders" of universal DNA coding, holographic interfaces, and satellite phones, A Philosophical Investigation is more concerned with cross-examining the present than with escaping to the future. For Kerr that means coming up with a way to remain human in the face of vast systems of social tyranny and technological control. Through it all, Kerr remains optimistic. The low-key heroism and complex moral vision of DI Jakowicz will come as a great relief to anyone who appreciates the difficulty of doing the right thing in a world gone bad.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different take on the mystery/thriller genre, June 14, 2001

By	J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In "A Philosophical Investigation" Philip Kerr comes up with one of the most original premises I have ever encountered in the "thriller" genre. What if a killer philosophically justified his murders in advance, and what if modern science, on some level, supported those justifications?

I don't want to give away the plot, but suffice it to say that Kerr's Earth of the 2020's is a dystopia in the classic tradition. On the surface, everything is OK, as technology has made work easier and play more intense. At the same time, though, the technology has subtly stolen the freedom of the indivdual and blurred the lines between right and wrong. As a result, the villain lives in a world where a logical moral argument can be made for the murder of society's undesirables. Is murder wrong if it removes potentially dangerous (genetically identified) people from society?

"A Philosophical Investigation" succeeds as a futuristic thriller without any literary pretensions. The characters are deep and well drawn, and the future England is realistic. However, it is those "literary pretensions", that set this novel apart and that will leave you thinking. Enjoy!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scary depiction of the future through the eyes of a killer., March 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Philosophical Investigation (Paperback)

This book, with its clever double-barelled storyline, combines the fears of today with the known reality of tommorow. In a brilliant realisation of 21st century London, Kerr projects images of a decaying culture against the backdrop of the European superstate.The fact that he manages to prey upon our concerns so much relies on his ability to show us our own fears so coherantly.

In an ultra violent society of the future which has become so denatured as to exclude compassion, Paul Esterhazy is a killer with a head for logic and a mind for Wittgenstein. He has a rare genetic disposition which makes him a likely candidate for mass murder. By hacking into a government computer he manages to find a list of other potential killers. He then sets about exterminating them.

In an effort to contain Esterhazy, Chief Inspector Jackowicz must try and capture him to limit the damage. However, under pressure from the Home Office an attempt is made to use Esterhazy's philosophy against him, i.e. force him to take his own life. Ironically it is left to C.I. Jackowicz to save Esterhazy from himself - but can she do it.

This book engages the reader by firstly spinning a carefull web of Esterhazys mind and then finally ensnaring the reader within it. The best thing about this book is that an entire 'mindspell' becomes apparent and, despite its title, no prior knowledge of philosophy is needed.

On a personal note, this book inspired me to write a screenplay based upon it. However, I appear to have been beaten to the rights - still, I can't wait for the movie!