Two Concepts Of Liberty: An Inaugural Lecture Delivered Before The University Of Oxford On 31 October 1958
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Fair to Good. Jacket: N/A (pamphlet/booklet format, no dust jacket). Page Condition: Yellowed with age, consistent with a 1958 publication. Markings: Not clearly visible. Binding: Staple-bound pamphlet, appears intact but shows age-related wear. Stickers/Labels: None visible.
One of the most celebrated works in twentieth-century political philosophy, Two Concepts of Liberty presents Isaiah Berlin's landmark distinction between negative liberty — freedom from interference by others — and positive liberty — the freedom to act as one's own master. Delivered as an inaugural lecture at the University of Oxford in 1958, the text argues with remarkable clarity and conviction that the conflation of these two concepts has historically underpinned authoritarian ideologies and political tyranny. Berlin's prose is measured yet urgent, drawing on a vast range of thinkers from Kant and Rousseau to Mill and Marx to illustrate how well-meaning doctrines of self-realisation can be twisted into instruments of oppression. The lecture remains a cornerstone of liberal political thought and continues to provoke debate among philosophers, political theorists, and historians of ideas worldwide.
Author: Isaiah Berlin
Format: Paperback
Published: 1958, Oxford at the Clarendon Press
Genre: Philosophy
Condition remarks:
Condition: Fair to Good. Jacket: N/A (pamphlet/booklet format, no dust jacket). Page Condition: Yellowed with age, consistent with a 1958 publication. Markings: Not clearly visible. Binding: Staple-bound pamphlet, appears intact but shows age-related wear. Stickers/Labels: None visible.
One of the most celebrated works in twentieth-century political philosophy, Two Concepts of Liberty presents Isaiah Berlin's landmark distinction between negative liberty — freedom from interference by others — and positive liberty — the freedom to act as one's own master. Delivered as an inaugural lecture at the University of Oxford in 1958, the text argues with remarkable clarity and conviction that the conflation of these two concepts has historically underpinned authoritarian ideologies and political tyranny. Berlin's prose is measured yet urgent, drawing on a vast range of thinkers from Kant and Rousseau to Mill and Marx to illustrate how well-meaning doctrines of self-realisation can be twisted into instruments of oppression. The lecture remains a cornerstone of liberal political thought and continues to provoke debate among philosophers, political theorists, and historians of ideas worldwide.