Isaiah Berlin
Also known as Sir Isaiah Berlin
British philosopher and historian of ideas (1909 to 1997) of liberty and value pluralism.
At a glance
Main ideas
Two concepts of liberty, Value pluralism, The hedgehog and the fox …
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The Hedgehog and the Fox, Two Concepts of Liberty, Four Essays on Liberty …
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Berlin was born in Riga, saw the Russian Revolution as a boy, and moved to England in 1921.
- He spent his life at Oxford, where he was Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory and founding president of Wolfson College.
- His lecture Two Concepts of Liberty distinguished negative from positive liberty.
- He argued that human values are many and can genuinely conflict, with no single answer.
Why it matters
- Negative versus positive liberty and value pluralism are still the frame for arguments about freedom; the hedgehog and the fox is one of the best-known ideas in the history of ideas.
Key facts
- Born
- 6 Jun 1909, Riga1
- Died
- 5 Nov 1997, Oxford, aged 881
- Education
- St Paul's School, London; Corpus Christi College, Oxford, first-class honours and the John Locke Prize; a second first in PPE1
- All Souls
- Elected to a prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, in 19321
- Chair
- Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, Oxford, from 1957 to 19671
- Founded
- Wolfson College, Oxford, in 1966, as its founding president1
- Offices
- President of the Aristotelian Society from 1963 to 1964; president of the British Academy from 1974 to 19781
- Honours
- CBE (1946); knighted (1957); Order of Merit (1971); Jerusalem Prize (1979)1
Main ideas
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Negative liberty is freedom from interference; positive liberty is self-mastery.
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Value pluralism1
Moral values can be equally valid yet incompatible; conflicts between them are "an intrinsic, irremovable element in human life".
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The hedgehog and the fox1
Hedgehogs see the world through one idea, foxes through many; he said he meant it as an intellectual game.
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The Counter-Enlightenment1
Vico, Herder, Hamann and de Maistre as critics of the Enlightenment, feeding his pluralism.
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Historical inevitability1
He rejected both great-man and impersonal-forces views of history.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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The Hedgehog and the Fox1
An essay on Tolstoy's view of history.
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His 1958 inaugural lecture.
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Four Essays on Liberty1
Collects Two Concepts of Liberty; later superseded by Liberty.
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Russian Thinkers1
Essays on Russian intellectual history.
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The Crooked Timber of Humanity1
Chapters in the history of ideas.
Connections
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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