This title represents the fruit of nearly 15 years of discussion - in person and by letter - between world-famous philosopher, Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) and Dr. Beata Polonowska-Sygulska of Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland. Berlin always felt a special affinity for scholars of Eastern Europe, and the unique chemistry between him and his younger enthusiast for his ideas yielded a remarkable body of material, most of it hitherto unpublished. The book sheds considerable light on Berlin's thinking, clarifying some of the central themes of his philosophy. The book concludes with a collection of articles on Berlin's thoughts by Dr. Polanowska-Sygulska, stemming from her long-standing immersion in his work. Berlin himself thoroughly discussed three of these with the author and approved their publication. This fascinating collection of letters, conversations and articles will be of the greatest interest to students and scholars of one of the 20th century's most renowned intellectuals.
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In 1983, Polanowska-Sygulska was struggling with her doctoral thesis on "controversies about the concept of liberty" when she got every grad student's dream opportunity: the chance to interrogate the subject of her research, philosopher Berlin. From then until his death in 1997, they corresponded through long letters as well as personal meetings, and Polanowska-Sygulska's record of these reveals both a young woman awed by the privilege of such tutoring and the kindness of the elderly Berlin, who was gratified by her interest and also stimulated by her questions, which forced him to re-examine his philosophical arguments. Polanowska-Sygulska wrote numerous articles based on these interactions, and some of them are reproduced here along with the letters and recorded conversations, which are helpfully edited to better reveal their themes, since Berlin often digressed from the topics his protégé wanted to discuss. Even the digressions make for interesting reading, since Berlin was learned but also engaged in the world (the decline and fall of the Soviet Union is a frequent concern), and his responses to then-current events illuminate his ideas. However, only readers who are already familiar with Berlin's ideas and with the course philosophy has taken in the last 200 years will get much out of the book; they will appreciate this portrayal of a generous and brilliant man, but casual readers will first have to read Berlin's writings to understand what Polanowska-Sygulska's conversations add to the picture.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) spent a long, distinguished career at Oxford University, where he was Professor of Social and Political Theory, a Fellow of All Souls College, and founding President of Wolfson College. Among his many books are Karl Marx, Russian Thinkers (including "The Hedgehog and the Fox"), The Age of Enlightenment, and Liberty (including "Historical Inevitability" and "Two Concepts of Liberty").
Beata Polanowska-Sygulska, Ph.D. (Cracow, Poland), works in the Department of Theory and Philosophy of Law at Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland, and is the author of two books in Polish on Isaiah Berlin, Isaiah Berlin’s Philosophy of Freedom and Visages of Liberalism, as well as many scholarly articles.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended for intermediate to advanced philosophy students,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Unfinished Dialogue (Hardcover)
Unfinished Dialogue is a published record of correspondence between Oxford University Professor of Social and Political Theory Isaiah Berlin, and Dr. Beata Polanowska-Sygulska, as conducted as conducted from 1983 to 1997. Selections from their exchange of letters, published for the first time, form the first of four sections; the next three are comprised of two interviews Berlin gave in 1991 for Polish periodicals, edited transcripts of conversations recorded between 1986 and 1995, and an allotment of articles by Polanowska-Sygulska on Berlin's thought, as derived from her years of immersion in his work. Berlin's philosophical ideas, and his affinity for the Eastern-European perspective of Polanowska-Sygulska, show through in this serious-minded, respectful, and extensively detailed analysis of the interplay between two great minds. At times fairly technical, Unfinished Dialogue is recommended for intermediate to advanced philosophy students.
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