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The strand of thought that tied Berlin’s diverse interests together was the need to protect human diversity and freedom from the totalitarian compulsion to employ coercion and political action to create Utopia. In his classic 1958 essay (originally delivered as a lecture) “Two Concepts of Liberty,” Berlin argued that conflict was inevitable in politics, because the goals of the individual and the goals of the group would always diverge. In the words of his present biographer, Michael Ignatieff, Berlin “viewed human beings as divided creatures, often required to choose between private and public claims, between reason and emotion and, crucially, between conflicting political values.”

Mr. Sieff is State Department correspondent for the Washington Times.

About the Author

David Klinghoffer

David Klinghoffer, a former literary editor at NR, is a senior fellow at Discovery Institute and co-author of The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath, and other books.

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The strand of thought that tied Berlin’s diverse interests together was the need to protect human diversity and freedom from the totalitarian compulsion to employ coercion and political action to create Utopia. In his classic 1958 essay (originally delivered as a lecture) “Two Concepts of Liberty,” Berlin argued that conflict was inevitable in politics, because the goals of the individual and the goals of the group would always diverge. In the words of his present biographer, Michael Ignatieff, Berlin “viewed human beings as divided creatures, often required to choose between private and public claims, between reason and emotion and, crucially, between conflicting political values.”

Mr. Sieff is State Department correspondent for the Washington Times.

About the Author

David Klinghoffer

David Klinghoffer, a former literary editor at NR, is a senior fellow at Discovery Institute and co-author of The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath, and other books.