Three Critics of the Enlightenment by Isaiah Berlin

Three Critics of the Enlightenment by Isaiah Berlin

This book brings together for the first time three major studies from Isaiah Berlin's central intellectual project - to explain the opposition to the excessively scientific French Enlightenment by getting under the skin of its critics and giving a sympathetic account of their views. The contributions of these particular critics could hardly be more important. Giambattista Vico estabished that the humanties are and must remain crucially different from the sciences: J G Herder - sometimes called the father of European nationalism - originated populism, expressionism and pluralism (an idea which Berlin enriched and made powerfully his own); and the anti-rationalist J G Hamann lit the fuse of romanticism, the major movement to arise out of the various currents of hostility to Enlightenment thought. The issue between the advocates of the Enlightenment and these critics is today at least as fundamental as it was in its beginnings. With his customary humane understanding, Berlin analyses the ideas of three deeply original but unregarded thinkers, and demonstrates their disturbing relevance to the central issues of today's world.

"Isaiah Berlin's main preoccupation throughout his productive life was understand the nature of the modern reaction against the EnlightenmentThese 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

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780712664929
ISBN 10	0712664920
Titel	Three Critics of the Enlightenment
Autor	Isaiah Berlin
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Paperback
Verlag	Vintage Publishing
Erscheinungsjahr	2000-02-03
Seitenanzahl	400
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar