Everyman Revived

Richard Gelwick
—University of New England
Chair of the Polanyi Society
"Drusilla Scott has accomplished an extremely difficult task by making clear and simple — but not reductive or simplistic — the thought of one of the major original philosophers of our century. Michael Polanyi's complexity and scope have defied popularization. Now we have a text that can charm and guide both the beginner and the expert into the importance of Polanyi's concepts such as 'tacit knowing.' Scott's personal acquaintance with Polanyi and her Oxonian acumen have made Polanyi's epistemology a compelling moral inspiration for an age of anxiety. Through her use of the tale of Everyman, Scott helps us to see how our ways of knowing can either destroy us or free us. As we approach the new millennium, Polanyi's thought, as interpreted by Scott, shows us how to continue with science, religion, and technology as a 'society of explorers.'"

Thomas F. Torrance
—University of Edinburgh
"I have read this book with increasing delight. It is a very faithful, clear, and elegant discussion of Michael Polanyi's thoughts. It has been done in a way and in a style that makes for very easy reading and understanding, even by those who have not been familiar with the deep changes going on in science. This is a fine piece of communication to the wider public and will be widely received."

Walter R. Thorson
—University of Alberta
"A brilliantly written book. . . . Scott brings to her work a full appreciation of Michael Polanyi's thought and its relation to almost all the major idols of contemporary philosophy and culture — imposing figures such as Russell, Popper, Quine, Ayer, Kuhn in the philosophy of science — and an exceptional gift for making clear how and why Polanyi's work shows their whole approach is lacking or distorted or wrong in relation to the truth about persons and knowing."