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Isaiah Berlin(1909-1997) was one of the most celebrated thinkers of the twentieth century. His defence of freedom and diversity against control and uniformity is widely endorsed. His distinction between the monist hedgehog and the pluralist fox, and his celebration of 'the crooked timber of humanity', have entered the vocabulary of modern culture, together with his hugely influential elaboration of the concepts of 'positive' and 'negative' political liberty. A consummate essayist and letter-writer, he was famous for his virtuosity as a lecturer and talker. His distinctive deep, rapid voice was often heard on the radio, and he led many to explore his chosen subject - the history of ideas. He founded Oxford's largest graduate college, Wolfson, which expresses his generous, unhidebound personality to this day.
| # | Episode Title | Description | People | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Some Sources of Romanticism: 6 – The Lasting Effects | The sixth and last of Isaiah Berlin's famous 1965 Mellon Lectures | Isaiah Berlin | 21 Nov 2021 | |
| 16 | Some Sources of Romanticism: 4 – The Restrained Romantics | The fourth of Isaiah Berlin's famous 1965 Mellon Lectures | Isaiah Berlin | 21 Nov 2021 | |
| 15 | Some Sources of Romanticism: 5 – Unbridled Romanticism | The fifth of Isaiah Berlin's famous 1965 Mellon Lectures | Isaiah Berlin | 21 Nov 2021 | |
| 14 | Some Sources of Romanticism: 3 – The True Fathers of Romanticism | The third of Isaiah Berlin's famous 1965 Mellon Lectures | Isaiah Berlin | 21 Nov 2021 | |
| 13 | Some Sources of Romanticism: 2 – The First Attack on Enlightenment | The second of Isaiah Berlin's famous 1965 Mellon Lectures | Isaiah Berlin | 27 Oct 2021 | |
| 12 | Some Sources of Romanticism: 1 – In Search of a Definition | The first of Isaiah Berlin's famous 1965 Mellon Lectures | Isaiah Berlin | 07 Sep 2021 | |
| 11 | The Impact of Marx on the Nineteenth Century | Lecture by Isaiah Berlin on 5 October 1964 to the conference on ‘One Hundred Years of Revolutionary Internationals’ held at Stanford University to mark the centenary of the First International Working Men’s Association | Isaiah Berlin | 03 Sep 2021 | |
| 10 | Political Judgement | A 1957 BBC Third Programme talk by Isaiah Berlin on the distinctiveness of the understanding and judgement we deploy in human affairs, especially in the field of politics | Isaiah Berlin | 03 Sep 2021 | |
| 9 | The Origins of Cultural History: 1 – Two Notions of the History of Culture: The German versus the French Tradition | Isaiah Berlin gives the first of his Gauss Seminars at Princeton University on 'The Origins of Cultural History', 19 February 1973 | Isaiah Berlin | 31 Jul 2013 | |
| 8 | The Origins of Cultural History: 2 – Geisteswissenschaft and the Natural Sciences: Vico versus Descartes | Isaiah Berlin gives the second of his three Gauss Seminars at Princeton University on 'The Origins of Cultural History', 20 February 1973 | Isaiah Berlin | 31 Jul 2013 | |
| 7 | The Origins of Cultural History: 3 – The Origins of the Conflict: Political Lawyers, Classical Scholars, Narrative Historians | Isaiah Berlin gives the third of his three Gauss Seminars at Princeton University on 'The Origins of Cultural History', 22 February 1973 | Isaiah Berlin | 31 Jul 2013 | |
| 6 | Two Enemies of the Enlightenment: 3 – Joseph de Maistre | Isaiah Berlin gives the third of his four Woodbridge Lectures at Columbia University, New York, 27 October 1965 | Isaiah Berlin | 31 Jul 2013 | |
| 5 | Two Enemies of the Enlightenment: 2 – J. G. Hamann | Isaiah Berlin gives the second of his four Woodbridge Lectures at Columbia University, New York, 26 October 1965 | Isaiah Berlin | 31 Jul 2013 | |
| 4 | From Communism to Zionism: Moses Hess (1957) | 1957 Lucien Wolf Memorial Lecture. Lecture on the Jewish philosopher Moses Hess, one of the founders of Zionism and a committed Socialist. Berlin also discusses Hess’s evolution as a philosopher, from International Socialism to Zionism. | Isaiah Berlin | 15 Apr 2009 | |
| 3 | A Fire at Sea (1957) | Isaiah Berlin introduces and reads his translation of Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev's short story 'A Fire at Sea', in which Turgenev recounts an embarrassing episode from his youth. Originally broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 23 July 1957. | Isaiah Berlin | 15 Apr 2009 | |
| 2 | Alexander Herzen: His Opinions and Character (1955) | Lecture on Alexander Herzen, philosopher and founder of Russia’s first free press. Berlin discusses Herzen’s passionate belief in individual liberty and his distaste for the new violent radicalism in the Russia of his time. | Isaiah Berlin | 15 Apr 2009 | |
| 1 | Freedom and Its Betrayal: 2 – Jean Jacques Rousseau (1952) | Berlin lectures on Rousseau's 'On the Social Contract' and discusses his anti-intellectualism, his idealism of Nature, and the worryingly authoritarian implications of his philosophy. Originally broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in 1952. | Isaiah Berlin | 14 Apr 2009 |