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The Power of Ideas
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by Isaiah Berlin,
Edited by Henry Hardy
Princeton University Press
Due/Published
March 2002, 256 pages,
paper
ISBN
0691092761
New in paper (S02) The connecting theme of these essays, as in the case with many of Berlin's earlier volumes, is the social and political role of ideas. Among the contributions are "My Intellectual Path," Berlin's last essay, a retrospective autobiographical survey of his main preoccupations; and "Jewish Slavery and Emancipation," the classic statement of his Zionist views, long unavailable in print. His other subjects include the Enlightenment, Giambattista Vico, Vissarion Belinsky, Alexander Herzen, G.V. Plekhanov, the Russian intelligentsia, the idea of liberty, political realism, nationalism, and historicism. |
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Review
There is probably no one who is so familiar with the works of Isaiah Berlin than Henry Hardy. Hardy has read almost everything Berlin wrote and edited several collection of his work. In The Power of Ideas, Hardy collects Berlin’s shorter and more popular pieces. Though the inclusion of the brief and popular might seem like a case of "Berlin Lite," nothing could be further from the truth. This superb collection once again reveals the breadth and complexity of Berlin’s thought as he brilliantly analyzes the crucial social and political role -- past, present, and future -- that ideas play in the world. Some of the more notable pieces in The Power of Ideas include: “Jewish Slavery and Emancipation,” a work that generated so much controversy when it was first published that Berlin was hesitant to include it in a collection of his work; “My Intellectual Path,” originally written for a Chinese volume on Anglo-American philosophy and one of the last works he published. Berlin was inspired by the prospect of reaching a new audience and in the essay, he describes his intellectual development and the thikers who influenced his philosophy. Other essays examine the purpose of philosphy; the achievements of Giamattista Vico (Berlin sees him as “one of the boldest innovators in the history of human thought"); Russian intellectual history; the novels of Alexander Herzen; the role of the intelligentsia; Russian Marxism; Chaim Weizman’s leadership; and much more. Other recent Berlin-related works: |
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