Isaiah Berlin

Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) is one of the foremost liberal thinkers of the twentieth century. Most notably in his classic “Two Concepts of Liberty” (first published in 1958), he locates the intellectual roots of that century’s totalitarian politics in fundamental ideas about the nature of freedom and morality. According to Berlin, certain kinds of “positive” liberty can be used by dictators to justify their actions, which are supported at a deeper level still by a “monist” conception of moral values. Opposing these ideas, Berlin argues for liberal alternatives: “negative” liberty and “pluralist” ethics. He is also among the first thinkers to draw attention to the importance of belonging, recognition, and nationalism in a liberal context.