Some Sources of Romanticism: 3 – The True Fathers of Romanticism
Isaiah Berlin
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The Idea of the Perfect Life Is Unintelligible
The notion that there can be one single idea all men everywhere becomes unintelligible. If the greeks had an ideal which was perfect for them as greeks, and if the romans had an ideal, which was less perfect, but as much as could be done for people who were obviously less gifted than the greeks. What is the ideal form of life? We can't be both greek and phoenician and mediaeval and eastern and western and northern and southern at once. Since we can't do that, the whole notion of the perfect life loses its meaning. It's possible to lay down criteria whichl tell you what makes a perfect work of art,
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