Against the Current: Essays in the History of IdeasBerlin's main theme in these essays is the importance in the history of ideas of dissenters whose thinking still challenges conventional wisdom - among them Machiavelli, Vico, Montesquieu, Herzen and Sorel. With his unusual powers of imaginative re-creation, he brings to life original minds that swam against the current of their times, and in the process offers a powerful defence of variety in our visions of life. |
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... reasons, I omitted nine essays in this field which, other things being equal, would have belonged here. These are 'Political Ideas in the Twentieth Century' and 'John Stuart Mill and the Ends of Life', which had already been reissued in ...
... reasons, I omitted nine essays in this field which, other things being equal, would have belonged here. These are 'Political Ideas in the Twentieth Century' and 'John Stuart Mill and the Ends of Life', which had already been reissued in ...
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... 'Additional Bibliographical Material' appended to this article has not been reproduced here. 8 References have been added in The Proper Study of Mankind (see here). Introduction Roger Hausheer Two extravagances: to exclude Reason, to admit.
... 'Additional Bibliographical Material' appended to this article has not been reproduced here. 8 References have been added in The Proper Study of Mankind (see here). Introduction Roger Hausheer Two extravagances: to exclude Reason, to admit.
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... Reason, to admit only Reason. Blaise Pascal A man of clear ideas errs grievously if he imagines that whatever is seen confusedly does not exist: it belongs to him, when he meets with such a thing, to dispel the mist, and fix the ...
... Reason, to admit only Reason. Blaise Pascal A man of clear ideas errs grievously if he imagines that whatever is seen confusedly does not exist: it belongs to him, when he meets with such a thing, to dispel the mist, and fix the ...
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... reasons – ignorance, human weakness, lack of technical means – but because it is conceptually incoherent a priori. In the other ... reason or in pursuit of what purpose, must for ever contain an area of impenetrable opacity. Vico's great ...
... reasons – ignorance, human weakness, lack of technical means – but because it is conceptually incoherent a priori. In the other ... reason or in pursuit of what purpose, must for ever contain an area of impenetrable opacity. Vico's great ...
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... reason than is the evidence of the senses; though it may on occasion deceive, it is not shored up by an elaborate apparatus of proof. Above all, the artificial utilitarian contraptions of scientists, which do not express the inner ...
... reason than is the evidence of the senses; though it may on occasion deceive, it is not shored up by an elaborate apparatus of proof. Above all, the artificial utilitarian contraptions of scientists, which do not express the inner ...
Contents
The Originality of Machiavelli | |
The Divorce between the Sciences and the Humanities | |
Vicos Concept of Knowledge | |
Montesquieu | |
Hume and the Sources of German AntiRationalism | |
Herzen and his Memoirs | |
The Life and Opinions of Moses Hess | |
Benjamin Disraeli Karl Marx and the Search for Identity | |
The Naïveté of Verdi | |
Past Neglect and Present Power | |
Authors Note | |
Index | |
Other editions - View all
Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas - Second Edition Isaiah Berlin Limited preview - 2013 |
Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas - Second Edition Isaiah Berlin Limited preview - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
Aileen Kelly Alexander Herzen believed Benjamin Disraeli Berlin central century Christian civilisation common conceived conception consciousness created culture Descartes Disraeli doctrine E. H. Carr empirical ends Enlightenment essays fact faith French Georges Sorel German Giambattista Vico Hamann Hegel Henry Hardy Herder Herzen Hess history of ideas human Hume Hume’s ibid ideal imagination individual intellectual Isaiah Berlin Italian Jewish Jews justice Kant Karl Marx knowledge language laws letter liberal lives London Machiavelli man’s mankind Marx Marx’s Marxist men’s metaphysical methods modern Montesquieu moral Moses Hess myth natural sciences Niccolò Machiavelli one’s organisation original outlook Oxford passionate perhaps philosophical political Prince principles radical rationalist realise reality reason religion repr Review revolution revolutionary Roman Russian scepticism scientific seems sense social socialist society Sorel Spinoza spirit theory thinkers thought tradition trans true truth understand universal values Verdi Vico Vico’s vision Voltaire writings