Isaiah Berlin’s classic essay on Tolstoy – an exciting new edition with new criticism and a foreword.
‘The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.’ This fragment of Archilochus, which gives this book its title, describes the central thesis of Isaiah Berlin’s masterly essay on Tolstoy. There have been various interpretations of Archilochus’ fragment; Isaiah Berlin has simply used it, without implying anything about the true meaning of the words, to outline a fundamental distinction that exists in mankind, between those who are fascinated by the infinite variety of things (foxes) and those who relate everything to a central all-embracing system (hedgehogs). When applied to Tolstoy, the image illuminates a paradox of his philosophy of history, and shows why he was frequently misunderstood by his contemporaries and critics. Tolstoy was by nature a fox, but he believed in being a hedgehog.
‘The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.’ This fragment of Archilochus, which gives this book its title, describes the central thesis of Isaiah Berlin’s masterly essay on Tolstoy. There have been various interpretations of Archilochus’ fragment; Isaiah Berlin has simply used it, without implying anything about the true meaning of the words, to outline a fundamental distinction that exists in mankind, between those who are fascinated by the infinite variety of things (foxes) and those who relate everything to a central all-embracing system (hedgehogs). When applied to Tolstoy, the image illuminates a paradox of his philosophy of history, and shows why he was frequently misunderstood by his contemporaries and critics. Tolstoy was by nature a fox, but he believed in being a hedgehog.
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Reviews
Beautifully written and suggestive
[Berlin] has a deep and subtle feeling for the puzzle of Tolstoy's personality, and he writes throughout ... with a wonderful eloquence
This little book is so entertaining, as well as acute, that the reader hardly notices that it is learned too
Brilliant ... searching and profound
Very readable, with a lively honed down style
Delightful to read
The argument is ingenious and subtle, full of overtones - exactly what good critical writing should be
The most important study of Tolstoy's thought written in English for a long time
Berlin's stunning command of the resources of scholarship, his sensitivity to literature and to character, and his eloquence as a writer give this essay the lustre of a virtuoso performance
