Berlin Skepticism
To prevent populism, we need to be critical, as Isaiah Berlin suggested.
Martin Lukito Sinaga
June 24, 2024
IN 2004, the Freedom Institute published an Indonesian translation of Isaiah Berlin’s classic work, Four Essays on Liberty. In it, Berlin delivered a sharp message: the chaos of politics requires ‘enlightened skepticism’—an anti-messianic stance on political designs and the promises of democracy.
Socio-politics in Indonesia are often overshadowed by a messianic longing—for a kind of ‘just queen’ who
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