Author Archives: James Schmidt

About James Schmidt

Professor of History, Philosophy, and Political Science Boston University

Berlin & Popper on Liberty & Enlightenment (Part III – Berlin’s Response)

Posted on May 5, 2013

I’ve devoted two previous posts to Karl Popper’s comments on Isaiah Berlin’s 1958 inaugural lecture “Two Concepts of Liberty,” as laid out in his letter to Berlin of February 17, 1959. This post will focus on Berlin’s response in his … Continue reading →

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Fox News, the Enlightenment, and G. K. Chesterton

Posted on May 3, 2013

I’m about as familiar with the Fox News Channel as I am with golf: I know that people watch the former and I’m aware that people play the latter and when I go to the local YMCA I wind up … Continue reading →

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Why It Wouldn’t Have Mattered if Isaiah Berlin used Ngrams

Posted on April 28, 2013

I’d been planning on posting the final part of my discussion of the exchange of letters between Isaiah Berlin and Karl Popper on liberty and enlightenment, but various commitments have conspired to delay my posting of that discussion until later … Continue reading →

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Isaiah Berlin & Karl Popper on Liberty & Enlightenment (Part II)

Posted on April 21, 2013

Last Sunday (which, for those of us who live in the Boston area, seems like the distant past), I began an examination of Karl Popper’s comments on Isaiah Berlin’s 1958 lecture “Two Concepts of Liberty” in his letter to Berlin … Continue reading →

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Edes and Gill, the “Patriot Printers” & Locke’s Second Treatise

Posted on April 16, 2013

I published this post about three hours before the bombing in Boston as the second of two posts marking the Patriots’ Day holiday.  In the wake of the attacks, I pulled both posts off the site.  I’ve replaced the first … Continue reading →

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On the Boston Bombings

Posted on April 16, 2013

Yesterday morning, I published a post entitled “Liberty, Freedom, and nGrams! (A Patriots’ Day Special)” in which I explained that, though I try to limit my postings on this site to one a week, I’ve made exceptions to the rule: … Continue reading →

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Karl Popper & Isaiah Berlin on Liberty & Enlightenment (Part I)

Posted on April 14, 2013

On October 31, 1958, Isaiah Berlin assumed the Chichele Chair of Social and Political Theory at Oxford and delivered his inaugural lecture, “Two Concepts of Liberty.” The lecture — which is now regarded as one of the more important contributions … Continue reading →

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