Sir Isaiah Berlin was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century – a man who set ideas on fire. Isaiah is primarily renowned as a political theoretician, one of the most formidable defenders of liberalism, and a foremost historian of ideas.
He is acclaimed for his anti-authoritarian political philosophy and criticism of totalitarian doctrines. Isaiah expressed his thoughts mainly through his brilliant essays and lectures. The two most central themes in his oeuvre are freedom and value pluralism. The concepts contained in Berlin’s essays continue to inspire questions and thoughts about freedom, which is central to liberalism.
With the Isaiah Berlin Lecture Series, Liberal International aims to hone in on timely topics of global importance and, through expert speakers/international political figures, develop fresh notions of liberal identity and thought leadership in the twenty-first century.
Recognising that liberal values are the best foundation upon which to build an open and inclusive democratic society, liberals are – and liberalism is – best placed to critically reflect on the challenges facing politics and society. With the IB Lecture Series, we aim to demonstrate fresh thinking and, as liberals, how we can put those ideas into practice.
Liberal International is delighted to announce that the next Isaiah Berlin Lecture will be delivered by Professor John Gray, one of the most influential political thinkers of our time.
The lecture, titled “Liberalism, Populism and the Sense of Reality,” will explore the enduring legacy of liberalism in light of today’s political challenges. Drawing inspiration from Isaiah Berlin’s seminal essay The Sense of Reality, Professor Gray will examine the tensions between liberal ideals and contemporary populist movements, offering a thought-provoking analysis rooted in both historical tradition and modern political dilemmas.
About the Speaker:
John Gray is Emeritus Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and formerly a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, Professor of Politics at Oxford. Visiting Professor at Harvard, Yale and lecturer at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He is the author of Mill on Liberty: a Defence (1983 and 2013), Hayek on Liberty (1984, 1998 and 2013), Isaiah Berlin: an interpretation of his thought (1995 and 2013), Post-liberalism: studies in political thought (1996), False Dawn: the Delusions of Global Capitalism (1998, 2009 and 2015), Two Faces of Liberalism ( 2000), Straw Dogs: thoughts on humans and other animals( 2002 and 2023), Al Qaeda and What It Means to be Modern (2003 and 2007), Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia ( 2007), Gray‘s Anatomy: Selected Writings ( 2009 and 2016), The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death ( 2011), The Silence of Animals: on progress and other modern myths (2013), The Soul of the Marionette: a short inquiry into human freedom ( 2016), Seven Types of Atheism (2018), Feline Philosophy: Cats and the meaning of Life (2021), The New Leviathans ( 2023) and other books. He retired from academic life in 2007 and since then has been an independent writer.
Stay tuned for further details!
Main Image from an article by Maria Kasmirli originally published at Aeon, republished under Creative Commons.
