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CIAO DATE: 03/02
Critical Review
The Graying of Berlin
By Daniel Weinstock
Abstract
In Isaiah Berlin, John Gray interprets Berlin as having made value pluralism the basis of an anti-rationalist, "agonistic" liberalism. Gray argues that Berlin's value pluralism actually stands in tension with his liberalism, and that a whole-hearted affirmation of value pluralism should have led him to reject the claim that liberal institutions are morally superior. But Berlin's pluralism is more moderate than that ascribed to him by Gray, in that it does not allow for diminishing the value of liberty beyond a certain point. This version of pluralism is more compatible with the objectivity Gray claims for pluralism than is his own version.