The Cambridge Companion to Isaiah Berlin

Isaiah Berlin remains one of the seminal political philosophers of the twentieth century. This book explains his enduring relevance as we face the challenges of the twenty-first.

Joshua L. Cherniss (Edited by), Steven B. Smith (Edited by)

9781316503058, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 October 2018

324 pages
22.9 x 15.4 x 1.9 cm, 0.46 kg

'… the two opening pieces on Berlin the man, one by Amos Oz, who died in December, and the other by Hardy and Joshua Cherniss, are superb, two of the best essays ever written about him. … The book captures the range of Berlin's work, from his early writings as an analytic philosopher and on Karl Marx in the 1930s to his essays on Russian thinkers, the Enlightenment, Counter-Enlightenment and Romanticism, from nationalism to pluralism and liberalism.' David Herman, New Statesman

Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997) was a central figure in twentieth-century political thought. This volume highlights Berlin's significance for contemporary readers, covering not only his writings on liberty and liberalism, the Enlightenment and Romanticism, Russian thinkers and pluralism, but also the implications of his thought for political theory, history, and the social sciences, as well as the ethical challenges confronting political actors, and the nature and importance of practical judgment for politics and scholarship. His name and work are inseparable from the revival of political philosophy and the analysis of political extremism and defense of democratic liberalism following World War II. Berlin was primarily an essayist who spoke through commentary on other authors and, while his own commitments and allegiances are clear enough, much in his thought remains controversial. Berlin's work constitutes an unsystematic and incomplete, but nevertheless sweeping and profound, defense of political, ethical, and intellectual humanism in an anti-humanistic age.

Editors' introduction: why Berlin? Why now? Steven B. Smith and Joshua L. Cherniss
Part I. Berlin the Man: 1. On Isaiah Berlin Amos Oz
2. The life and opinions of Isaiah Berlin Henry Hardy and Joshua L. Cherniss
Part II. Berlin on Philosophy, the Human Sciences, and Political Theory: 3. Berlin, analytic philosophy, and the revival of political philosophy Naomi Choi
4. 'The sense of reality': Berlin on political judgment, political ethics, and leadership Joshua L. Cherniss
Part III. Berlin and the History of Ideas: 5. Berlin on the nature and purpose of the history of ideas Ryan Patrick Hanley
6. Isaiah Berlin on Marx and Marxism Aurelian Craiutu
7. Privileged access: Isaiah Berlin and Russian thought Kathleen Parthe
8. Isaiah Berlin on the enlightenment and counter-enlightenment Steven B. Smith
9. Berlin's romantics and their ambiguous legacy Gina Gustavsson
Part IV. Berlin and Politics: Liberalism, Nationalism, and Pluralism: 10. Isaiah Berlin on nationalism, the modern Jewish condition, and Zionism Fania Oz-Salzberger
11. Negative liberty and the Cold War Ian Shapiro and Alicia Steinmetz
12. Isaiah Berlin: contested conceptions of liberty and liberalism Alan Ryan
13. Pluralism, relativism, and liberalism George Crowder
14. Liberalism, nationalism, pluralism: the political thought of Isaiah Berlin William A. Galston
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], History of Western philosophy [HPC]