Research And Reflection On Isaiah·Berlin's Liberal Thought

Isaiah·Berlin is one of the chief advocators in"the liberalism rejuvenation campaign",who enjoys equal fame with F·A·Hayek,K·Popper and J·L·Taimon. Meanwhile, Berlin is counted as a heterodoxy in the western liberal group, a thinker who really"goes against the current"too. Berlin's liberal thought is not merely the introspection the totalitarianism of the 20th century, but also a rely to modern world which has fallen into"polytheistic conflicts since disenchanting", a kind of new examination and further reflection on the liberalism in the linguistic context of the modernity. It is praised as"the most original one of contemporarily liberalistic theory".Berlin's liberal thought is originates from the criticism of the western traditional thoughts, also is comes from Constant's theoretical differences between"the ancient freedom"and"the modern freedom"directly. In fact, the gist of Berlin's liberal thought is very simple, namely, who demonstrates the importance of value-pluralism theoretically and guarantees everybody has access to"the liberty of choice"in the practice and life. So, there is an inner and clear trail in the development of his liberal thought. My article will along with the trail and course developed of his liberal thought, to further explain the peculiarity, subversiveness and contradiction of his idea of liberty, and to help us understand the piths of his liberal thought accurately.The fist part of the article chiefly expounds the theoretical foundation of Berlin's liberal theory. Above all, Berlin criticizes the traditional value-monism of the western intensively and asserts that it is arbitrary or dangerous. At the same time, Berlin proposes clearly his famous value-pluralism thought. He thinks that there are always some conflicts among the ultimate"goods"or goals pursued by people. As to these conflicts, mankind lacks one common criterion to judge the price of values, in order to make the sole correct choice. So,"the necessity to choice"marks the eternal character of human dilemma and proves Berlin's view of liberty. In addition, because human may make different choices, with a view to peace and coexistence, the tolerance is mostly inevitable in our life.The second part of the article is a key part. It describes the meanings, characters and the differences of Berlin's"the negative liberty"and"the positive liberty"systematically, also expounds emphatically that the positive liberty move toward its reverse side ---three kinds of normal forms of oppression and not freedom. Berlin claims that the pursuit of the positive liberty is the main reason of the prevalence of the...