Hello, everyone. I'm Stephen West. This is philosophize this quick address. I want to give here to the fine people that support the show on Patreon.

First of all, thank you. Patreon is the only way the show keeps going. Second, if you didn't see the post I made on Patreon, I want you to know that I'm fully aware of the economic uncertainty that's going on in the world right now.

I actually made an executive decision to just not be paid for last episode because of it.

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And you can do that month after month for however long until we know where the economy's at. Thank you for whatever you can do. Today's episode is part two on the work of Isaiah Berlin. I hope you love the show today.

So if there's a way to sum up the end of last episode that can get us started in the right direction this episode. It's to say that to the philosopher Isaiah Berlin. These attempts all throughout history to create systems of values based on a single criteria to synthesize multiple different systems of values into one universal system.

These have all been grounded in an assumption spanning across the entire history of human thought that there is a single correct answer to any question you can ask that there's a clear methodology we can use to get us there usually reason or revelation.

And that once we find these answers, they're going to fit neatly into a single overarching system, a cohesive worldview that fits together like some sort of cosmic jigsaw puzzle.

Now all of this is to say that Isaiah Berlin wants to set his sights on the long tradition we have in the west of using monism to develop systems of thought that use a single ultimate criteria for determining the truth about political or moral values.

Let me say that again because it's important. The use of these systems to determine the truth about moral or political values is one of his primary concerns. This is a dangerous game we've been playing.

It's had bloody consequences throughout the 20th century.

His response to monism comes from the thinkers of the counter enlightenment, something he calls pluralism or the idea that when it comes to values, there are multiple different ends that people can arrive at using the exact same process of rationality and that both conclusions can nonetheless be intelligible and rational simultaneously.

The complexity of human experience makes questions of political or moral values destined to have blurry answers. The values of a person or culture are extremely complicated. They overlap. They contradict each other. They're situational and consistent. The values that people are often what he calls, income insurable.

Now, let's talk about that big word, income insurable, and give some real world examples for why he thinks this is the way things are.

Classic example that's used here to introduce this concept is the relationship between mercy and justice and how it can seem deceptively simple when we think about it.

Now, they're being a sense of mercy in the world and they're being a sense of justice in the world are both important values that a person or culture can prioritize.

But consider the fact that in practice, these two values of mercy and justice can often but heads competing when trying to be considered at the same time.

Consider for a second a real world example where these values interact. The easiest one is to think about a hypothetical criminal justice system.

Now, there are examples out there of people that find themselves in trouble who are otherwise good citizens who made a fleeting poor decision in a moment.

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