John Hospers (June 9, 1918 – June 12, 2011) was an American philosopher and political activist. Hospers was interested in

Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievemen ...

, and was once a friend of the philosopher Ayn Rand, though she later broke with him. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, Hospers became the first presidential candidate of the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

, and was the only

minor party A minor party is a political party that plays a smaller (in some cases much smaller, even insignificant in comparison) role than a major party in a country's politics and elections. The difference between minor and major parties can be so gre ...

candidate to receive an electoral vote in that year's U.S. presidential election.

Education and career

John Hospers was born on June 9, 1918, in

Pella, Iowa Pella is a city in Marion County, Iowa, Marion County, Iowa, United States, with a population of 10,464 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census. Founded by immigrants from the Netherlands, it is forty miles southeast of Des ...

, the son of Dena Helena (Verhey) and John De Gelder Hospers. He graduated from Central College in 1939 before earning an MA in English from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

in 1942 and a PhD in philosophy from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1946. He conducted research, wrote, and taught in areas of philosophy, including

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

and

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

. He taught philosophy at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

, Brooklyn College, California State College Los Angeles (1966–1968) and at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, where for many years he was chairman of the philosophy department 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 ...

. In 2002, an hour-long video about Hospers' life, work, and philosophy was released by the

Liberty Fund Liberty Fund, Inc. is an American private educational foundation headquartered in Carmel, founded by Pierre F. Goodrich. Through publishing, conferences, and educational resources, the operating mandate of the Liberty Fund was set forth in an un ...

of Indianapolis, as part of its ''Classics of Liberty'' series.''John Hospers: The Intellectual Portrait Series''
,

Friendship with Ayn Rand

During the period he taught philosophy at Brooklyn College, Hospers was very interested in

. He appeared on

radio shows A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

with Ayn Rand, and devoted considerable attention to her ideas in his ethics textbook ''Human Conduct''. According to Rand's biographer,

Barbara Branden Barbara Joan Branden (née Weidman; May 14, 1929 – December 11, 2013) was a Canadian-American writer, editor, and lecturer, known for her relationship and subsequent break with novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand. Life Born in Winnipeg, Barbara Weid ...

, Hospers met Rand when she addressed the student body at Brooklyn College. They became friends, and had lengthy philosophical conversations. Rand's discussions with Hospers contributed to her decision to write nonfiction. Hospers read '' Atlas Shrugged'' (1957), which he considered an aesthetic triumph. Although Hospers became convinced of the validity of Rand's moral and

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

views, he disagreed with her about issues of

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epis ...

, the subject of their extensive correspondence. Hospers also disagreed with Rand about

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...

(with him favoring determinism, while she advocated a libertarian view) and conscription (Hospers supported it, Rand opposed this). Rand broke with Hospers after he, in his position as moderator, critiqued her address, and she felt he had criticized her talk on "''Art and Sense of Life''" before the American Society of Aesthetics at Harvard.

1972 presidential candidacy

John Hospers, 1972 presidential candidate of the fledgling Libertarian Party

In the 1972 U.S. Presidential election, Hospers and

Tonie Nathan Theodora Nathalia "Tonie" Nathan (February 9, 1923 – March 20, 2014) was an American radio producer, television producer, and political activist. She was the first woman to receive an electoral vote in a United States presidential election. Sh ...

were the first presidential and vice-presidential nominees, respectively, of the newly formed Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party was poorly organized and Hospers and Nathan managed to get on the ballot in only two states Dionne, E. J. ''Why Americans Hate Politics''. New York:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, 1991. p. 269. (

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

), receiving 3,674 popular votes."1972 Presidential General Election Results"
Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Hospers and Nathan received one electoral vote from

faithless elector In the United States Electoral College, a faithless elector is an elector who does not vote for the candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President for whom the elector had pledged to vote, and instead votes for another person for one or ...

Roger MacBride Roger Lea MacBride (August 6, 1929 – March 5, 1995) was an American lawyer, political figure, writer, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election. MacBride became the first president ...

, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, resulting in Nathan's becoming the first woman and the first

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

to receive an electoral vote in a United States presidential election.

Written work

Hospers' books include: * ''Meaning and Truth in the Arts'' (1946) * ''Introductory Readings in Aesthetics'' (1969) * ''Artistic Expression'' (1971) * ''Libertarianism – A Political Philosophy for Tomorrow'' (1971) * ''Understanding the Arts'' (1982) * ''Law and the Market'' (1985) * ''Human Conduct'' (now in its 3rd edition, 1995) * ''An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis'' (now in the 4th edition, 1996) Hospers was editor of three anthologies, and contributed to books edited by others. He wrote more than 100 articles in various scholarly and popular journals. Hospers was editor of ''The Personalist'' (1968–1982) and ''

The Monist ''The Monist: An International Quarterly Journal of General Philosophical Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of philosophy. It was established in October 1890 by American publisher Edward C. Hegeler. History Init ...

'' (1982–1992), and was a senior editor at ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

'' magazine. Additionally Hospers wrote the article "Art and Morality" for the ''Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics (JCLA)'', Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer 1978.

References

External links

JohnHospers.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hospers, John 1918 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American politicians American book editors American magazine editors American male non-fiction writers Philosophers from Idaho American political philosophers American political writers Brooklyn College faculty California Libertarians Columbia University alumni Determinists Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees Libertarian theorists People from Pella, Iowa Candidates in the 1972 United States presidential election University of Southern California faculty Writers from California Writers from Iowa Writers from New York City Philosophers from California Philosophers from New York (state)