@philosophyminis: In 1953, the philosopher Isaiah Berlin wrote an essay called The #Hedgehog and the Fox, where he argued that all thinkers can be divided into two. There are hedgehog thinkers and there are #fox thinkers. Berlin himself admitted that the essay was just a bit of fun, but his idea has been taken seriously by a great many people. A ‘hedgehog thinker’ is a person who has one great conception of the world, and they will apply this conception to everything. A hedgehog might not be fast or big or cunning, but they have spikes and that's all they need. Likewise, thinkers like #Plato or #Pascal believe that there is a single unity to everything. There is only one system, and everything must be seen through the lens of this system. Hedgehogs are #system thinkers. But a fox is someone who takes on a bit of everything. They study widely, but not always deeply. They dip into different disciplines and like some #philosophical magpie, they take a bit of this and a bit of that. Foxes might know a great many things about a great many areas, but they do not see one unifying system, and they are often all too aware of the limits of their knowledge. The fox and the hedgehog can be a great way to understand yourself, your friends, and your colleagues. But Berlin argued that some people can be torn between the two. They hate it when people give simple answers but wants to find them nonetheless. They will study and study and study in the hope of stumbling on some kind of revelation. So, are you more hedgehog or fox? Are you a one answer person or are you always looking?

Jonny Thomson

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Region: GB

Thursday 16 January 2025 14:45:00 GMT