Although Isaiah Berlin liked to say that he left philosophy for the history of ideas after the Second World War, there is a decided continuity between his more purely philosophical writings, most of which are collected in this volume, and the more historical work for which he is better known. Included here are Berlin’s early arguments against logical positivism and later essays which more evidently reflect his life-long interest in political theory, intellectual history and the philosophy of history. In two related pieces he gives his view on the philosopher’s task, to uncover the various models – the concepts and categories – that we bring to our experience, and that help to form it.

In his own words ‘The goal of philosophy is always the same, to assist men to understand themselves and thus operate in the open, and not wildly, in the dark.’

Format: Oversized Paperback
Published: UK, 1999
Publisher: Vintage
Pages: 240
Language: English
ISBN 13: 9780712665520
ISBN 10: 0712665528

Includes essays that presents the sweep of author’s contributions to philosophy from his early participation in the debates surrounding logical positivism to his later work, which more evidently reflects his life-long interest in political theory, the history of ideas, and the philosophy of history.

Format: Paperback
Published: 2013, USA
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Pages: 344
Language: English
ISBN 13:9780691157498
ISBN 10:0691157499