The Philosophy of Isaiah Berlin

by Johnny Lyons

'I gradually came to the conclusion that I should prefer a field in which one could hope to know more at the end of one's life than when one had begun.' So thought Isaiah Berlin toward the end of the Second World War, when he decided to bid farewell to philosophy in favour of the history of ideas. In The Philosophy of Isaiah Berlin Johnny Lyons shows that Berlin's approach to intellectual history amounted to the pursuit of philosophy by other means, creating a more original and fruitful engagement with his lifelong subject. By recasting Berlin as a philosopher who took humanity and history seriously, Lyons reveals the underlying unity of his wide-ranging and disparate ideas and throws into sharp relief the enduring moral charm of his outlook.

Lyons emphasises aspects of Berlin's thinking that have largely been neglected. These include his recognition of historical contingency and of the importance of truth in human affairs, his scepticism about the so-called implications of determinism for our everyday understanding of freedom, and his deeper reasons for thinking that negative liberty should be valued. This introduction to Berlin's thought, and particularly its examination of these mainly overlooked elements of his outlook, reveals a new Berlin, one with surprising and urgent contemporary relevance to the debates that continue to dominate philosophy, politics and intellectual history today.

304 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2020

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not an entirely objective reader when it comes to the philosophy of Isaiah Berlin. I am a liberal by conviction and it would be difficult for me to identify any thinker of the 20th century who embodies liberal thought (as I understand it) better than Isaiah Berlin. Indeed, living as he did from 1909 to 1997, his lifetime encompasses that century almost precisely and was hugely influenced by its political events. But as Johnny Lyons shows in a most readable style, Berlin was not just a student of the history of ideas, but a product of that history as well as a significant contributor to it. If you want to get a sense, not only of the key elements of Isaiah Berlin's thinking, but of why it is important, you could scarcely do better than read this new book. An enormous amount has been written about Isaiah Berlin, and no-one has seen more of it, or indeed published more of it, than Henry Hardy, Berlin's principal editor and collaborator. "He sees Berlin plain, and therefore sees more in him than many others.........his account of Berlin will take its place as a permanent milestone in the history of that remarkable thinker." High praise, but entirely justified.