Priest or Jester? Jacob L. Talmon (1916–1980) on history and intellectual engagement

Abstract

This essay provides a general introduction to the special number on Jacob L. Talmon . The essay sketches the outlines of Talmon's intellectual biography, beginning with his study of the origins of totalitarian democracy, moving through his analysis of nationalism and political messianism, and ending with his study of the ideological clash of the 20th century. The essay raises the question of whether Talmon should be seen as a thinker wishing to defend existing traditions (i.e. a ''priest''), or as a radical anti-authoritarian skeptic (i.e. a ''jester''). Moreover, being both an anti-nationalist liberal, and a zionist at the same time, Talmon, the essay shows, was aware of the fact his own stance was problematic and at times even paradoxical. The last section of the essay presents the seven essays, which are included in the special issue. r

A pessimistic liberalism: Jacob Talmon’s suspicion and the birth of contemporary political thought

“…Berlin and others were liberals similarly influenced in their thinking by the Holocaust – perhaps the 20th century’s most horrific reminder of the terrors of ideology. ‘Talmon was well aware of the fact that his heroes’, argues Arie Dubnov (2008b: 134), ‘instead of being protectors of human dignity and individual liberty, can provide sophisticated justifications and cruel rationalisations for oppression and autocracy’. While Talmon was not the only theorist belonging to this tradition of a ‘liberalism of fear’ (Shklar, 1998) or a pessimistic liberalism, his work provides a look into a notable attempt at tracing the history of a crusading, optimistic, liberalism – and critiquing its failures, horrors, and legacies.…”