Joseph Cropsey (

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, August 27, 1919 –

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, July 1, 2012) was an American

political philosopher Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, where he was also associate director of the

John M. Olin John Merrill Olin (November 10, 1892 – September 8, 1982) was an American businessman. He was the son of Franklin W. Olin. Early life Born in Alton, Illinois, Olin graduated from Cornell University with a B.Sc. degree in chemistry and as a br ...

Center for Inquiry into the Theory and Practice of Democracy.

Biography

Cropsey was a student of

Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (, ; September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. ...

, who inspired him to move from his original academic field—

economic thought Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes w ...

—to a much more theoretical approach to political thought. Since then, Cropsey had focused on

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

and the "esoteric", interstitial philosophical aspects of the theories developed by such thinkers as

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

and

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. His son,

Seth Cropsey Seth Cropsey is an American political figure and former United States Department of Defense official. He is the president of the Yorktown Institute, which describes itself as "a think tank dedicated to securing American liberty, prosperity, and se ...

(a graduate of St. John's College), is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

neoconservative analyst for the

Hudson Institute The Hudson Institute is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporat ...

, where he is the Director for the Center for American Seapower.

Bibliography

* Joseph Cropsey (ed.), ''Ancients and Moderns: Essays on the Tradition of Political Philosophy in Honor of Leo Strauss'', New York, Basic Books, 1964 * Joseph Cropsey, ''Political Philosophy and the Issues of Politics'', Chicago & London, University of Chicago Press, 1977 * Joseph Cropsey, ''Plato's World: Man's Place in the Cosmos'' (1995), Chicago & London, University of Chicago Press, 1997 * Joseph Cropsey, ''Polity and Economy: An Interpretation of the Principles of Adam Smith (With Further Thoughts on the Principles of Adam Smith)'', Chicago, St. Augustine's Press, 2001 (Revised Edition) *

Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...

(edited by Joseph Cropsey), ''A Dialogue between a Philosopher and a Student of the Common Laws of England'' (written between 1668 and 1675), Chicago & London, University of Chicago Press, 1997 * Leo Strauss, Joseph Cropsey (eds.), ''History of Political Philosophy'' (First Edition: 1963), Chicago & London, University of Chicago Press, 1987 * Joseph Cropsey, ''On Humanity's Intensive Introspection'', South Bend, IN, St. Augustine's Press, 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cropsey, Joseph 1919 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers American political philosophers Historians of political thought University of Chicago faculty Writers from New York City

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links