Can happiness be imagined? The adagium ‘cogito ergo sum’ seems to imply another principle that is just as inescapable to human existence: the innate, fundamental sadness that comes with thought. In this spiritual and intellectual testament, that as a book was widely applauded in Germany and France, George Steiner presents ten (possible) reasons for the sorrow of the contemplative mind, eine dem Leben anklebende Traurigkeit to which man is inevitably condemned.

Janneke van der Meulen