Berlin, Sir Isaiah (1909–1997)
© Wolfson College
A historian of ideas and a philosopher of history, Berlin made a significant contribution to the debate on the position of history in relation to the natural sciences. He argued that the necessity for the historian to use his imagination to enter into the mental world of the past made the pursuit of historical knowledge utterly different from the scientific method.
- Forenames:
- Isaiah
- Surname:
- Berlin
- Title:
- Sir
- Honours:
- CBE, Order of Merit
- Dates:
- 1909–1997
- Institutions:
- British Academy
University of Oxford (Wolfson College) - Significant posts:
- Chichele Professorship of Social and Political Theory, University of Oxford (All Souls College)
President, British Academy
President, Wolfson College
- Contemporaries:
- Austin, John
Ayer, A. J.
Hampshire, Stuart - Themes:
- History of political thought
Intellectual history
Philosophy of history
- Biographies:
-
Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing
Proceedings of the British Academy
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - Obituaries:
- Guardian
Bibliography
Personal papers
Significant publications
- Isaiah Berlin, Karl Marx: his Life and Environment (London, 1939)
Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty (London, 1969)
Other reading
- Avery Plaw, 'Isaiah Berlin and the plurality of histories: two concepts of Karl Marx', Rethinking History, 10, 1 (2006), 75–93.
