ISAIAH BERLIN — was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas. He was an essayist, conversationalist, raconteur, and lecturer. In its obituary of the scholar, the Independent stated that “Isaiah Berlin was often described, especially in his old age, by means of superlatives: the world’s greatest talker, the century’s most inspired reader, one of the finest minds of our time […] there is no doubt that he showed in more than one direction the unexpectedly large possibilities open to us at the top end of the range of human potential”.
Charles Fourier
CHARLES FOURIER — was a French philosopher and an influential early socialist thinker later associated with “utopian socialism”. Some of Fourier’s social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become mainstream thinking in modern society. Fourier is, for instance, credited with having originated the word feminism in 1837. Fourier’s social views and proposals inspired a whole movement of intentional communities and a diverse array of revolutionary thinkers and writers.
Friedrich Hayek
FRIEDRICH HAYEK — was an Austrian and British economist and political philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism. His account of how changing prices communicate information which enables individuals to co-ordinate their plans is widely regarded as an important achievement in economics.
