The Christian Origins of Individuality
Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism
by Larry Siedentop Allen Lane, 2014, 448 pages, $39.99 |
Sir Isaiah Berlin made a career out of writing variations on one big theme, in the form of short essays, long essays, and his celebrated public lectures. This is fine: if it is a good theme, and its influence is widely felt, then all the conditions for a successful academic career seem to have been fulfilled. “Two Concepts of Liberty”, the most important of Berlin’s essays, popularised the distinction between “positive” and “negative” liberty, which was so dear to political thought in the Cold War era. At risk of serious oversimplification, this established the dualism between rights to things and freedom from things. Berlin clearly had more sympathy for negative liberty, while positive liberty became associated with Jacobins, Bolsheviks, and all others who had enough confidence in their own rectitude to kill in the name of freedom. As the…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins