Tolstoy was a torn man
In a now classic essay, Isaiah Berlin proposes two types of humans: The Hedgehog and the Fox
He then digs into the case of Tolstoy, a genius stranded in the middle
A thread👇
In a now classic essay, Isaiah Berlin proposes two types of humans: The Hedgehog and the Fox
He then digs into the case of Tolstoy, a genius stranded in the middle
A thread👇
A Greek saying: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
For hedgehogs, the one big thing is a “single central vision” that connects different experiences and varied facts.
Hedgehogs arrange what they know in a holistic framework.
For hedgehogs, the one big thing is a “single central vision” that connects different experiences and varied facts.
Hedgehogs arrange what they know in a holistic framework.
Foxes, on the other hand, believe “no theories can possibly fit the immense variety of possible human behavior.”
The mind of a fox is scattered, and capable of pursuing many different ends that may be “unrelated and even contradictory.”
The mind of a fox is scattered, and capable of pursuing many different ends that may be “unrelated and even contradictory.”
Famous hedgehogs:
- Nietzsche
- Plato
- Dostoevsky
In their own way, they had a “fanatical inner vision."
They connected different strands of knowledge with a thread that united them all.
Their philosophy has a panoramic quality: wide and all-inclusive.
- Nietzsche
- Plato
- Dostoevsky
In their own way, they had a “fanatical inner vision."
They connected different strands of knowledge with a thread that united them all.
Their philosophy has a panoramic quality: wide and all-inclusive.
Famous foxes:
- Herodotus
- Aristotle
- Goethe
Their vision of life was less panoramic and more kaleidoscopic.
Foxes notice specific cases over general categories.
For a fox life has a “vast multiplicity” that can’t be reduced to a single principle.
Now onto Tolstoy..
- Herodotus
- Aristotle
- Goethe
Their vision of life was less panoramic and more kaleidoscopic.
Foxes notice specific cases over general categories.
For a fox life has a “vast multiplicity” that can’t be reduced to a single principle.
Now onto Tolstoy..
Berlin writes Tolstoy was a fox who desperately yearned to be a hedgehog.
Tolstoy was hyper-sensitive to the minute details that compose life
And yet he wanted a universal story that connected it all.
Tolstoy was hyper-sensitive to the minute details that compose life
And yet he wanted a universal story that connected it all.
Tolstoy the fox
Tolstoy had “an incurable love of the concrete, the empirical, and the verifiable.”
He intuitively distrusted anything abstract
He mocked Napoleon in War and Peace as Napoleon was a “master theorist” chasing a singular vision.
Tolstoy had “an incurable love of the concrete, the empirical, and the verifiable.”
He intuitively distrusted anything abstract
He mocked Napoleon in War and Peace as Napoleon was a “master theorist” chasing a singular vision.
Tolstoy the hedgehog
However, Tolstoy also had a strong “desire to penetrate to first causes.”
He longed for “a universal explanatory principle” that made the chaos of life more coherent.
But the gap between what he wanted and who he was, was too big to bridge.
However, Tolstoy also had a strong “desire to penetrate to first causes.”
He longed for “a universal explanatory principle” that made the chaos of life more coherent.
But the gap between what he wanted and who he was, was too big to bridge.
Tolstoy’s tragedy?
He “looked for a harmonious universe, but everywhere found war and disorder.”
Tolstoy was a “battering-ram” that attacked weak metaphysical structures, but his deepest spiritual need was to be stopped by an immovable obstacle.
It was not to be.
He “looked for a harmonious universe, but everywhere found war and disorder.”
Tolstoy was a “battering-ram” that attacked weak metaphysical structures, but his deepest spiritual need was to be stopped by an immovable obstacle.
It was not to be.
Berlin describes Tolstoy as “a fox bitterly intent upon seeing like a hedgehog.”
Tolstoy was “by nature not a visionary.”
His ability to perceive differences, specificities, and idiosyncrasies left unfulfilled his desire for “a vision of the whole."
Tolstoy was “by nature not a visionary.”
His ability to perceive differences, specificities, and idiosyncrasies left unfulfilled his desire for “a vision of the whole."
Berlin considered both Tolstoy and Shakespeare to be foxes, but Tolstoy really disliked the bard.
I was surprised by this, and read his angry but interesting essay on Shakespeare.
Key insights here👇👇👇memod.com/MrOldBooks/why…
I was surprised by this, and read his angry but interesting essay on Shakespeare.
Key insights here👇👇👇memod.com/MrOldBooks/why…
On drugs
Tolstoy was interested in this question: why do humans take drugs to alter their consciousness?
He wasn't happy with the usual answers: pleasure, mirth, recreation
Here's his answer👇👇👇 memod.com/jashdholani/wh…
Tolstoy was interested in this question: why do humans take drugs to alter their consciousness?
He wasn't happy with the usual answers: pleasure, mirth, recreation
Here's his answer👇👇👇 memod.com/jashdholani/wh…
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RT to spread the word on Tolstoy's birthday
https://twitter.com/oldbooksguy/status/1436049149040873512?s=20
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