Didn't Abandon Philosophy for the History of Ideas

Berlin did not really abandon philosophy. Nor did he take up the history of ideas. He abandoned logic and positivism, but went on doing philosophy. This activity was historical in the sense that social and political thinking is not like thinking in the natural sciences. It explores contestable and partial truths about broadly competing answers to the question how are we to live? What political arrangements can we put in place to secure a world in which we can live with each other? The proper mode of argument is diological.