The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History

by Isaiah Berlin

Release Date: March, 1993

Edition: Paperback

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Tolstoy's views on history elucidated

Sir Isaiah Berlin has written a critical acclaim of the historic views of famous Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy as expressed in one of his masterpieces "War and Piece". In 'The Hedgehog and The Fox' (1953), Dr. Berlin compares and contracts the monist and pluralist historical philosophies. According to Archilochus "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." This can be interpreted that there is a philosophy of a single undiminished holistic truth or principle governing all history, or there is a myriad little ideas, truths and inclinations which together govern mens historical experience.

Tolstoy, according to Berlin, is a fox (whose talent is by the way in precisely being a fox), who is however convinced in the ways of the hedgehog. Tolstoy is at his greatest when he describes the subtle undertones of human existence, these barely perceptible little differences which makes living so full and colorful, range of emotions and feelings. He does not believe, however, that this is all that is, and insists on some ill-defined fundamental truth. This makes his writing wooden, unhistorical, and simplistic at times.

Berlin makes a perceptive observations on the interest of Tolstoy's in some of the figures of Counter-Enlightenment (such as Maestre and Vico). These proponents of the view of the world which denies all-pervasive powers of reductionist science and allocates the central place to a simple idea (e.g. Christian moral idea) are closer to Tolstoy; and from this point of view and interest Tolstoy's last "religious" period owes its inspiration. Berlin shows Tolstoy as a tragic genius riddled with contradictions and frustrations of misapprehension of his enormous talents in inability to say what he wanted to say the most - paint a true picture of human historical experience.

Style of Berlin's polemic is as always colorful, insightful, supremely observant and scholarly. Essay is no longer then 75 pages and would make for a delightful Sunday afternoon reading. Highly recommended!

In the beginning was THE WORD...

This is a powerful essay. But, by the time an informed reader reaches its crescendo coda on p.81, one...in figurative blare of trumpets, flash of lightning and roar of thunder...submits an exhausted but triumphant AMEN!... Or a thoroughly disgusted and unconvinced BS! Why? Because essentially the essay asserts the primacy of LOGOS as key to true knowledge and understanding within The Western Tradition. I concur because I ally myself with those whom Sir Isaiah Berlin playfully terms the "hedgehogs"...thinkers/seekers who by a metaphysical act of faith (and humility)concede the existence of a Principle of Intelligibility that is guarantor of subsistent Truth and Order. "Foxes"...empirical, physical-science minded folks who deny an Ultimately ORDERING PRINCIPLE, PLAN, or GOD...are posed over against hedgehogs as people who may "know" very much (yet may believe in NADA). Tolstoy is averred to be among the latter...but wanted desperately...like DOSTOYEVSKY...to be among the former. As more, perhaps of a "squirrel" than either of these polar giants, I propose that interest in this essay is a fairly clear (and yes, scholarly but NOT pedantic) exposition of ideas that are important in this era of DECONSTRUCTION. Many thinkers are dabbling in both distortion and denial of fundamental propositions in metaphysics, ethics and epistemology. These are having PRACTICAL consequences in our attitudes toward sexuality, education, law and even language itself. Names like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heiddeger, Foucault and Derrida are preeminent among anti-logos "foxes". Names ranging all the way back from Augustine to Einstein and Hawkings rank as preeminent "hedgehogs". "God does not play dice with the Universe," the Main ALBERT once proposed. If I have loaded the dice in this review a bit, it still does not prevent an eager empiricist or deconstructionist from taking-on Berlin's viewpoint as one of the most accomplished philosophical/political essayists of the 20th Century. To wit: Tolstoy...and other seminal deconstructionists-empiricists...tried too hard. But ironically didn't try hard enough! Try this essay; see what you think; it will make you do so: hedgehog, fox or squirrel...