Conversations with Isaiah Berlin

by Ramin Jahanbegloo

Overview

Revealing and enlightening, Conversations with Isaiah Berlin gives a close view of one of the foremost thinkers of our time. Philosopher and leading proponent of liberal thinking, Isaiah Berlin has changed our sense of history and the world. His impact on the intellectual and political views of the second half of the twentieth century alone makes it critical to understand his works and analyze his thoughts, and these conversations are a perfect introduction to both. This revised edition follows Isaiah Berlin from Petrograd to Oxford, Washington to Moscow, and London to Jerusalem. The topics range broadly from philosophy to music, history to literature, Judaism to Israel, Marx and Machiavelli to his extraordinary encounters with Anna Akhmatova and Boris Pasternak in post-war Russia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781905559039
Publisher:	Halban Publishers
Publication date:	11/01/2007
Edition description:	Second Edition, Second edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ramin Jahanbegloo currently lectures in Political Philosophy and Comparative Politics at the University of Toronto. Isaiah Berlin was a professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford and president of the British Academy. He received many honorary degrees as well as the Erasmus, Lippincott, Jerusalem, and Agnelli Prizes.

Editorial Reviews

What began as an interview of the noted British philosopher and historian of ideas, conducted by the Iranian philosopher Jahanbegloo for the journal Esprit , grew into a series of five conversations, comprising a sort of intellectual memoir. They range over Berlin's writings on historicism, pluralism, and liberty as well as the ideas of thinkers such as Vico, Herder, and Herzen. Berlin also speaks of his many friends and acquaintances among the important thinkers and artists of the 20th century. Both urbane and opinionated, these conversations provide an able introduction to Berlin's thought that ultimately sends us back to his many books and essays. A fitting history of the ideas of the great historian of ideas.-- T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.

Library Journal

This engrossing memoir, written in the form of a dialogue between Berlin and Iranian philosopher Jahanbegloo, intersperses insights into the development of Berlin's ideas and political philosophy with rich personal reminiscences. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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