Editor's preface vii Note on references Xi VICO AND HERDER Author's preface 3 Introduction 5 The Philosophical Ideas of Giambattista Vico 21 Vico's Theory of Knowledge and its Sources 122 Herder and the Enlightenment 168 THE MAGUS OF THE NORTH 243 Editor's preface 245 Foreword to the German edition 249 Author's preface 253 1. Introduction 255 2. Life 258 3. The central core 272 4. The Enlightenment 276 5. Knowledge 280 6. Language 313 7. Creative genius 330 8. Politics 341 9. Conclusion 346 Appendix: Excursus to chapter 6 359 Bibliographical note 363 Index 36 5
Isaiah Berlin's main preoccupation throughout his productive life was understand the nature of the modern reaction against the Enlightenment. These essays on Vico, Herder, and Hamann belong with his other profound and influential studies of the leading figures of what he called the Counter-Enlightenment. But they are also crucial for anyone hoping to understand Berlin's own analysis of modern life and politics, which has received increasing attention in recent years. Anyone interested in Berlin or those he studied will find this an essential volume. -- Mark Lilla, University of Chicago Isaiah Berlin is among the finest intellectual historians of recent decades. Yet his position is somewhat peculiar: for while he is clearly a scholar of enormous erudition, the characteristic style of his work is closer to that of brilliant conversation than of conventional historical scholarship. His works on Vico, Herder, and Hamann deal with thinkers who were at odds with main currents of the Enlightenment. For anyone with a historical sense, the recrudescence of so many of the characteristic notions of the 'Counter-Enlightenment' under the rubric of 'postmodernism' is striking. The recovery of these ideas is all the more effective for being a critical one: Berlin reminds his readers of some of the unfortunate historical consequences of the ideas in question. -- Jerry Z. Muller, Catholic University of America
Isaiah Berlin was, until his death in 1997, a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He was renowned as an essayist and as the author of many books, among them "Karl Marx, Four Essays on Liberty, Russian Thinkers, The Sense of Reality, The Proper Study of Mankind," and from Princeton, "Concepts and Categories, Personal Impressions, The Crooked Timber of Humanity, The Roots of Romanticism, The Power of Ideas," and "Three Critics of the Enlightenment". Henry Hardy, a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, is one of Isaiah Berlin's literary trustees. He has edited several other volumes by Berlin, and is currently preparing Berlin's letters and remaining unpublished writings for publication.
"Isaiah Berlin's main preoccupation throughout his productive life
was understand the nature of the modern reaction against the
Enlightenment. These essays on Vico, Herder, and Hamann belong with
his other profound and influential studies of the leading figures
of what he called the Counter-Enlightenment. But they are also
crucial for anyone hoping to understand Berlin's own analysis of
modern life and politics, which has received increasing attention
in recent years. Anyone interested in Berlin or those he studied
will find this an essential volume."—Mark Lilla, University of
Chicago
"Isaiah Berlin is among the finest intellectual historians of
recent decades. Yet his position is somewhat peculiar: for while he
is clearly a scholar of enormous erudition, the characteristic
style of his work is closer to that of brilliant conversation than
of conventional historical scholarship. His works on Vico, Herder,
and Hamann deal with thinkers who were at odds with main currents
of the Enlightenment. For anyone with a historical sense, the
recrudescence of so many of the characteristic notions of the
'Counter-Enlightenment' under the rubric of 'postmodernism' is
striking. The recovery of these ideas is all the more effective for
being a critical one: Berlin reminds his readers of some of the
unfortunate historical consequences of the ideas in
question."—Jerry Z. Muller, Catholic University of America
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