Lev Shestov ( All Things are Possible , 64) observes that it is a “school axiom” that “logical skepticism refutes itself, since the denial of the possibility of positive knowledge is already an affirmation.” Shestov doesn’t think this works: For starters, “skepticism is not bound to be logical, for it has no desire whatever to gratify that dogma which raises logic to the position of law.” Besides, “where is the philosophical theory which, if carried to its extreme, would not... Read more

Shestov on Socrates: “How painful it is to read Plato’s account of the last conversations of Socrates! The days, even the hours of the old man are numbered, and yet he talks, talks, talks . . . . Crito comes to him in the early morning and tells him that the sacred ships will shortly return to Athens. And at once Socrates is ready to talk, to ague . . . . from all sources we have it, that Socrates... Read more

More from Shestov: He finds an allegory of metaphysics in Anderson’s tale of the emperor’s new clothes and the child who declares the king naked. Children are always the obstacle in keeping up the charade about the emperor’s clothes. What’s to be done about the children? Shestov says, “With them the only remedy is the Pythagorean system of upbringing, so glorified by Hegel. Children must keep silent and not raise their voice until they realise that some things may not... Read more

Lev Shestov has some very funny critiques of metaphysics in All Things are Possible . In one section, he compares the differences between metaphysics and positivism to styles of painting: “In each there is the same horizon, but the composition and colouring are different. Positivism chooses grey, colorless paint and ordinary composition; metaphysics prefers brilliant colouring and complicated design, and always carries the vision away into the infinite; in which trick it often succeeds, owing to its skill in perspective.... Read more