The Crooked Timber of Humanity: Chapters in the History of IdeasWith great eloquence, eminent philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin traces the connections between the ideas of the past and the political and social upheavals of our time. "A history of ideas that possesses all the drama of a novel, all the immediacy of headline news".--The New York Times. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - JBreedlove - LibraryThingNot the easiest read but a great background on the history of philosophical thought in western Europe and the extremes to where it lead.I fast read through some parts but most was a review of a number of philosophers through history. Read full review
THE CROOKED TIMBER OF HUMANITY
User Review - Jane Doe - KirkusA fifth volume of collected essays by Oxford philosopher and historian Berlin (Personal Impressions, 1980; Concepts and Categories, 1979) that demonstrates once again why he is probably the best ... Read full review
Contents
The Pursuit of the Ideal | 1 |
The Decline of Utopian Ideas in the West | 20 |
Giambattista Vico and Cultural History | 49 |
Copyright | |
4 other sections not shown
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The Crooked Timber of Humanity: Chapters in the History of Ideas Isaiah Berlin No preview available - 1990 |
Common terms and phrases
ancient Aristotle authority believed Bonald Christian church civilisation common conception Condorcet conflict consciousness created creative CROOKED TIMBER culture divine doctrine eighteenth century ends Enlightenment equally eternal existence fact faith Fascism feeling Fichte forces France freedom French Friedrich Schlegel German Giambattista Vico goals happiness harmonious Hegel human ideal ideas ignorance imagination incompatible individual intellectual J. S. Mill Johann Gottfried Herder Joseph de Maistre Kant kind knowledge language laws liberal liberty live Maistre's mankind Marx Marxist methods modern Montesquieu moral movement natural sciences nineteenth century objective organisation outlook perfect perhaps philosophers Plato political principle progress questions rationalist realise reason recognised relativism resistance revolution romantic romanticism Rousseau rules Russian scientific seek seems sense social society spirit St Petersburg thinkers thought tradition true answers truth ultimate ultramontane understand universal Utopias values Vico and Herder Vico's violent virtues vision Voltaire