ISAIAH BERLIN
21
This is pure speculation, of course. I dare say even Beethoven
may have wondered about, say, Weber or Cherubini. It seems
absurd now, but it was probably so then. Stravinsky and
Schoenberg were undoubtedly in some sense rivals. I don't
believe that any composer of size today wonders uneasily about
whether some other composer will put him in the shade. I don't
believe that Britten wondered whether Shostakovitch or
Dallapiccola would write a better opera or concerto. I don't
believe that Boulez wonders whether Elliott Carter will do some–
thing more remarkable or whether Stockhausen will rise to still
dizzier heights-I just don't believe it.
There are only two arts, it seems to me, where there is real
competition-and vitality-today: the cinema-where producers
genuinely vie with one another-and architecture. Here there is
serious competition among men of authentic genius. And these
arts flourish, more, it seems to me, than the others.
Krauze:
You were president of Wolfson College, an institution
devoted to science.... Had you had that experience earlier,
would your ideas have changed a little about the relation between
science and the humanities?
Berlin:
No, I don't think so. I had been convinced for years that
something had to be done about natural science at Oxford . . ..
Of course there are s.ome excellent scientists at Oxford, and many
distinguished ones. But broadly speaking the emphasis has been
on the humanities. That was always the tradition-and a very
good tradition too-but I think on the whole people here tended
to rate scientific activity-the greatest achievement of our cen–
tury-incomparably so-not highly enough. In fact, it is because
I thought this that I was so anxious that Wolfson College should
have a scientific bias.
Krauze:
What do you think of "new conservatism"?
Berlin:
Who are the "new conservatives"? In England? Why do you
call them "new"?
Krauze:
Let me put it this way: What is the intellectual ancestry of
"neoconservatives" ?
Berlin:
"Neo" is an attempt to give them a certain heightened value
that they don't possess. "Neo" really conveys the idea of being at
the forefront of history and not simply reactionary. But this is not
so. Reactionaries are reactionaries, progressives are progressives,
conservatives are conservatives, liberals are liberals, socialists are
