Single Idea 7662

[catalogued under 1. Philosophy / B. History of Ideas / 5. Later European Thought]

Full Idea

Romanticism seems to me the greatest single shift in the consciousness of the West that has occurred.

Gist of Idea

Romanticism is the greatest change in the consciousness of the West

Source

Isaiah Berlin (The Roots of Romanticism [1965], Ch.1)

Book Reference

Berlin,Isaiah: 'The Roots of Romanticism' [Pimlico 2000], p.1


A Reaction

Far be it from me to challenge Berlin on such things, but I think that the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century (though acting more slowly and less dramatically than romanticism) may well be more significant in the long run. Ideas filter down.