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" Isaiah Berlin, Machiavellian Liberal "
Sprunk, Samuel C.
Ryn, Claes G
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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1113659
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| Doc. No
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TLpq2378138192
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| Main Entry
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Ryn, Claes G
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Sprunk, Samuel C.
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| Title & Author
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Isaiah Berlin, Machiavellian Liberal\ Sprunk, Samuel C.Ryn, Claes G
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| College
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The Catholic University of America
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| Date
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2020
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| student score
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2020
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Page No
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311
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| Abstract
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Although recognized as a major liberal thinker, Sir Isaiah Berlin failed to leave scholars with a systematic treatise of his central ideas. Scholarly debate about his conceptions of liberalism and pluralism and how they relate to the idea of democracy is continuing. The research into what is most distinctive to Berlin's thinking brought to mind his famous dichotomy between the hedgehog and the fox. Berlin argues that a fox knows “many things” while a hedgehog knows “one big thing.” He aspires to articulate the merits of foxiness in a pluralistic society. The “foxes” do not pursue a single end but many ends that are, as Berlin stresses, often in conflict. Foxiness represents for Berlin the ideas of pluralism and negative liberty, which he spends a lifetime defending. This dissertation demonstrates that Berlin’s desire for foxiness and his prejudice against the hedgehog discouraged him from attempting a unifying theory of pluralism, but it also shows that just beneath the surface a hedgehog is lurking. That Berlin exhibits a unifying pattern of thought, comes to light when one examines an issue of central importance to Berlin, the “question of Machiavelli.” The latter turns out to be at the crux of Berlin’s work on pluralism. Making a significant contribution to scholarship, the dissertation shows that Berlin’s pluralism and his deep interest in its origins is rooted in his fascination with Machiavelli. Berlin’s central objective is to protect foxiness through negative liberty – i.e., freedom from ideological or political coercion. He views positive liberty – the supposed duty to do the right thing – as potentially tyrannical. However, when celebrating culture and empathy, Berlin is in fact endorsing elements of positive liberty. By bringing out and assessing this unresolved tension in Berlin’s work, the dissertation elucidates a problem that continues to haunt liberalism.
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American studies
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History
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Law
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Literature
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Philosophy
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Political science
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