“A CAUTIOUS, SOBER LOVE AFFAIR WITH HUMANITY”.docVIP

“A Cautious, Sober Love Affair with Humanity:” Humanism in the Thought of Isaiah Berlin The following was written as a senior essay in Political Science at Yale University, from which the author expects to receive his B.A. in May of 2002. It remains very much a work-in-progress. Any comments on it would be most welcome, and may be conveyed by writing the author at joshua.cherniss@yale.edu. ? Joshua Cherniss 2002 Not to be cited without the author’s permission This text was prepared by the author and no responsibility is taken for its contents by the website manager   “A Cautious, Sober Love Affair with Humanity:” Humanism in the Thought of Isaiah Berlin Introduction A. Opening Reflections Isaiah Berlin occupied a curious place in the intellectual life of his day, and is proving hard to categorize posthumously. Not exactly a philosopher, political theorist, historian, or literary critic, he was a little of each. He has been described as conventional and radical, brilliant and mediocre, an exemplar and defender of the Enlightenment and a spokesman for its opponents; a man shaped by and representative of his time, and a figure from another, earlier age. Long viewed as a prolix and protean “general intellectual,” he is now seen by some as a serious thinker whose work articulates a powerful central doctrine; but whether that doctrine is pluralism or liberalism is a matter of dispute, and this debate has come to dominate discussions of Berlin’s thought. I believe that these attempts to pigeonhole Berlin misrepresent the nature of his achievement, and miss the main value of his work. Berlin himself believed that all thinkers are driven by an inner core of commitment, and that their explicit doctrines are outworks erected to protect an “inner citadel” of belief, a fundamental perception of the world. In seeking to understand thinkers “it is more important to grasp this central notion or image … than even the most forceful arguments with which they defend their view