Professor Ryszard Legutko is a professor of philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. He is also President of the Center for Political Thought, a private educational and research institution founded in 1992 to study the relations between Christian tradition and liberal-conservative thought (www.omp.org.pl). His areas of specialization include political philosophy, ancient philosophy and modern political theory.

During the period of Communist rule in Poland, he was active in the anticommunist movement, and was editor of what was then an underground cultural and political magazine, ARKA. Today he is an essayist and columnist in liberal-conservative periodicals and newspapers.

Among his more recent books is On Tolerance: A Study of Strong Government, Law of Nature, Love and Conscience (1997), in which he explores the evolution of attitudes toward religious tolerance from the time of Erasmus to the present. His other major books include Plato's Critique of Democracy (1991); Controversies Over Capitalism (1994); Plato's Phaedo: Translation and Commentary (1996); Plato's Euthyphro: Translation and Commentary (1998); and several collections of essays.

Professor Legutko has held visiting fellowships and professorships at various Polish, West European and American Universities, including the Catholic University of Lublin, the University of Chicago, Bowling Green University and others.