内容简介
LibertyisarevisedandexpandededitionofthebookthatIsaiahBerlinregardedashismostimportant—FourEssaysonLiberty,astandardtextofliberalism,constantlyindemandandconstantlydiscussedsinceitwasfirstpublishedin1969.WritinginH
作者简介
SirIsaiahBerlinwasaphilosopherandhistorianofideas,regardedasoneoftheleadingliberalthinkersofthetwentiethcentury.Heexcelledasanessayist,lecturerandconversationalist;andasabrilliantspeakerwhodelivered,rapidlyandspontaneously,richlyallusiveandcoherentlystructuredmaterial,whetherforalectureseriesatOxfordUniversityorasabroadcasterontheBBCThirdProgramme,usuallywithoutascript.Manyofhisessaysandlectureswerelatercollectedinbookform.BorninRiga,nowcapitalofLatvia,thenpartoftheRussianEmpire,hewasthefirstpersonofJewishdescenttobeelectedtoaprizefellowshipatAllSoulsCollege,Oxford.From1957to1967,hewasChicheleProfessorofSocialandPoliticalTheoryattheUniversityofOxford.HewaspresidentoftheAristotelianSocietyfrom1963to1964.In1966,hehelpedtofoundWolfsonCollege,Oxford,andbecameitsfirstPresident.Hewasknightedin1957,andwasawardedtheOrderofMeritin1971.HewasPresidentoftheBritishAcademyfrom1974to1978.Healsoreceivedthe1979JerusalemPrizeforhiswritingsonindividualfreedom.Berlin'sworkonliberaltheoryhashadalastinginfluence.BerlinisbestknownforhisessayTwoConceptsofLiberty,deliveredin1958ashisinaugurallectureasChicheleProfessorofSocialandPoliticalTheoryatOxford.Hedefinednegativelibertyastheabsenceofconstraintson,orinterferencewith,agents'possibleaction.Greater"negativefreedom"meantfewerrestrictionsonpossibleaction.Berlinassociatedpositivelibertywiththeideaofself-mastery,orthecapacitytodetermineoneself,tobeincontrolofone'sdestiny.WhileBerlingrantedthatbothconceptsoflibertyrepresentvalidhumanideals,asamatterofhistorythepositiveconceptoflibertyhasprovenparticularlysusceptibletopoliticalabuse.BerlincontendedthatundertheinfluenceofJean-JacquesRousseau,ImmanuelKantandG.W.F.Hegel(allcommittedtothepositiveconceptofliberty),Europeanpoliticalthinkersoftenequatedlibertywithformsofpoliticaldisciplineorconstraint.Thisbecamepoliticallydangerouswhennotionsofpositivelibertywere,inthenineteenthcentury,usedtodefendnationalism,self-determinationandtheCommunistideaofcollectiverationalcontroloverhumandestiny.Berlinarguedthat,followingthislineofthought,demandsforfreedomparadoxicallybecomedemandsforformsofcollectivecontrolanddiscipline–thosedeemednecessaryforthe"self-mastery"orself-determinationofnations,classes,democraticcommunities,andevenhumanityasawhole.Thereisthusanelectiveaffinity,forBerlin,betweenpositivelibertyandpoliticaltotalitarianism.Conversely,negativelibertyrepresentsadifferent,perhapssafer,understandingoftheconceptofliberty.Itsproponents(suchasJeremyBenthamandJohnStuartMill)insistedthatconstraintanddisciplineweretheantithesisoflibertyandsowere(andare)lesspronetoconfusinglibertyandconstraintinthemannerofthephilosophicalharbingersofmoderntotalitarianism.ItisthisconceptofNegativeLibertythatIsaiahBerlinsupported.Itdominatedheavilyhisearlychaptersinhisthirdlecture.Thisnegativelibertyiscentraltotheclaimfortolerationduetoincommensurability.ThisconceptismirroredintheworkofJosephRaz.Berlin'sespousalofnegativeliberty,hishatredoftotalitarianismandhisexperienceofRussiaintherevolutionandthroughhiscontactwiththepoetAnnaAkhmatovamadehimanenemyoftheSovietUnionandhewasoneoftheleadingpublicintellectualsintheideologicalbattleagainstCommunismduringtheColdWar.
