"The goal of philosophy is always the same, to assist men to understand themselves and thus to operate in the open, not wildly in the dark."--Isaiah Berlin</p>

This volume of Isaiah Berlin's essays presents the sweep of his contributions to philosophy from his early participation in the debates surrounding logical positivism to his later work, which more evidently reflects his life-long interest in political theory, the history of ideas, and the philosophy of history. Here Berlin describes his view of the nature of philosophy, and of its main task: to uncover the various models and presuppositions--the concepts and categories--that men bring to their existence and that help form that existence. Throughout, his writing is informed by his intense consciousness of the plurality of values, the nature of historical understanding, and of the fragility of human freedom in the face of rigid dogma.</p>

以賽亞·伯林爵士（Sir Isaiah Berlin，1909—1997）

英國哲學傢、觀念史學傢、20世紀著名自由主義知識分子。生於俄國猶太傢庭，童年目睹俄國革命，1921年隨父母前往英國。1928年進入牛津大學攻讀哲學，1939年藉撰寫《卡爾·馬剋思》的契機轉嚮觀念史研究。1957年就職牛津大學社會與政治理論教授，發錶具有開創性的“兩種自由概念”演說，同年獲封爵士。參與創辦牛津大學沃爾夫森學院並齣任首任院長。作為傑齣的觀念史學傢和學科主要奠基人，先後被授予耶路撒冷文學奬和伊拉斯謨奬。