The Tale of the Unknown Island by José Saramago
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Inquiring

Real inquiry, all inquiry whether physical exploration or intellectual research, is necessarily blind, an act of faith in the unknown to reveal itself. Otherwise inquiry is merely repetition or review. So, paradoxically, there is no point to inquiry. The discovery which might result is per force entirely hidden and cannot be conceived in advance. Nor, therefore, can the obstacles which might be encountered, and consequently the eventual costs involved be assessed. Inquiry is, in other words, not just pointless, it is irrational since there are no criteria of success or profit or progress which can be applied to it. Unless of course one likes the people one is inquiring with. In which case one has already arrived at a conclusion. Saramago has condensed an entire philosophy of inquiry into a marvelous parabolic gem.

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