Clear all
Work #467 · Mid

The Hedgehog and the Fox

Isaiah Berlin
1953 · English
Intellectual-historical essay · British liberalism

Berlin's 1953 essay — "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing"

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Hedgehog and the Fox (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Hedgehog and the Fox

The historical time of unitary and pluralist visions.

Space

The Hedgehog and the Fox

The intellectual-historical space.

Matter

The Hedgehog and the Fox

The embodied thinker as fox or hedgehog.

Observer

The Hedgehog and the Fox

Berlin as historian of ideas.

Energy

The Hedgehog and the Fox

Energies of unitary vs. pluralist intellectual styles.

Information

The Hedgehog and the Fox

Intellectual-historical essay framework.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Hedgehog and the Fox

Berlin's pluralist preference for foxes in continuing dialogue with system-building hedgehog traditions.