Sir Isaiah Berlin 1909 1997 AllSouls College Oxford

Sir Isaiah Berlin, 1909 -1997

All-Souls College, Oxford (The Warden and College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford ) 1438

• I. Life • II. Value pluralism and relativism • III. Two concepts of liberty – Circumstances – Positive Liberty • Act unobstructedly If prevented from doing what I would otherwise do, I am not free » Liberty is the same for everyone » Involves the notion that some sphere of human society must be kept independent of social control » This is liberty FROM (ie absence of interference from what is beyond the spehre) • Compare to JS Mill ON LIBERTY (for whom progress depends on liberty)

• Positive Liberty – Wish to be one’s own master – Liberty TO – Dominant Self • Retreat to the Inner Citadel: problem for neg. liberty(? ) – What if I have desires but cannot pursue them?

• The question of self realization – Does freedom come from the use of critical reason • Political danger of relying on reason • The temple of Sarastro – Do problems admit of a solution? What kind(s)? • Search for Status • Liberty and Sovereignty – Tyranny

• One and the Many – No Harmony of Values – Pluralism revisited • What do we say about other values – the “bad” ones?