"The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big
thing." This ancient Greek aphorism, preserved in a fragment from
the poet Archilochus, describes the central thesis of Isaiah
Berlin's masterly essay on Leo Tolstoy and the philosophy of
history, the subject of the epilogue to "War and Peace." Although
there have been many interpretations of the adage, Berlin uses it
to mark a fundamental distinction between human beings who are
fascinated by the infinite variety of things and those who relate
everything to a central, all-embracing system. Applied to Tolstoy,
the saying illuminates a paradox that helps explain his philosophy
of history: Tolstoy was a fox, but believed in being a hedgehog.
One of Berlin's most celebrated works, this extraordinary essay
offers profound insights about Tolstoy, historical understanding,
and human psychology.
This new edition features a revised text that supplants all
previous versions, English translations of the many passages in
foreign languages, a new foreword in which Berlin biographer
Michael Ignatieff explains the enduring appeal of Berlin's essay,
and a new appendix that provides rich context, including excerpts
from reviews and Berlin's letters, as well as a startling new
interpretation of Archilochus's epigram.
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