Isaiah Berlin and his Philosophical Contemporaries

This book sets out to identify the nature and implications of a proper understanding of pluralism in a original and illuminating way. IsaiahBerlin believed thata recognitionof pluralism is vital to a free, decent and civilised society. By lookingbelow at the often neglected foundations ofBerlin's celebrated account of moral pluralism, Lyons reveals the more philosophically profound aspects of his undogmatic and humanistic liberal vision. He achieves thisby comparing Berlin's core ideas with those of several of his most distinguished philosophical contemporaries, an exercise which yieldsnot only a deeper grasp of Berlin and several major twentieth-century thinkers, principally A.J. Ayer, J.L. Austin, P.F. Strawson, Bernard Williams and Quentin Skinner,but, more broadly, akeenerappreciation of the power of history and philosophy to help us make sense of our predicament.