Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902 – July 12, 1989) was an American philosopher of
pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. ...
known for his contributions to the
philosophy of history
Philosophy of history is the philosophical study of history and its discipline. The term was coined by French philosopher Voltaire.
In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between ''speculative'' philosophy of history and ''crit ...
, the
philosophy of education
The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It includes the examination of educational theories, the presuppositions present in them, and the arguments ...
,
political theory
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
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, concerns m ...
. After embracing
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
in his youth, Hook was later known for his criticisms of
totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
, both
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
and
Marxism–Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various co ...
. A
social democrat
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
, Hook sometimes cooperated with
conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
, particularly in opposing Marxism–Leninism. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he argued that members of such groups as the
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
and
Leninists
Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishme ...
like
democratic centralists could ethically be barred from holding the offices of public trust because they called for the violent overthrow of democratic governments.
Background
![Albert Einstein and others letter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Albert_Einstein_and_others_letter.jpg)
Sidney Hook was born on December 20, 1902, in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, to Jennie and Isaac Hook,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
Jewish
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""The ...
immigrants. He became a supporter of the
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
during the
Debs era when he was in high school.
In 1923, he earned a
BA at the
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
and in 1927
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
at
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 ...
, where he studied under
pragmatist philosopher
John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...
.
Career
In 1926, Hook became a professor of philosophy at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
and was head of the
Department of Philosophy from 1948 to 1969. He retired from the University in 1972.
In 1931, Hook began teaching at the
New School for Social Research
The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...
through 1936, after which he taught night school there until the 1960s. By 1933, Hook and New School colleague
Horace M. Kallen were serving also on the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
's academic freedom committee.
Marxist
At the beginning of his career, Hook was a prominent expert on
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 ...
's philosophy and was himself a
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
. He attended the lectures of
Karl Korsch in Berlin in 1928 and conducted research at the
Marx-Engels Institute in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in the summer of 1929. At first, he wrote enthusiastically about the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, and, in 1932, supported the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
's candidate,
William Z. Foster, when he ran for
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
. However, Hook broke completely with the
Comintern
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
in 1933, holding its policies responsible for the triumph of
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. He accused
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
of putting "the needs of the Russian state" over the needs of the international revolution.
However, Hook remained active in some of the causes of the Marxist left during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. In 1933, with
James Burnham
James Burnham (November 22, 1905 – July 28, 1987) was an American philosopher and political theorist. He chaired the New York University Department of Philosophy; his first book was ''An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis'' (1931). Burn ...
, Hook was one of the organizers of the
American Workers Party, led by the Dutch-born
pacifist
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
minister
A.J. Muste
Abraham Johannes Muste ( ; January 8, 1885 – February 11, 1967) was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. He is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, antiwar movement, and civil rights movemen ...
. Hook also debated the meaning of Marxism with radical
Max Eastman
Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...
in a series of public exchanges. Eastman, like Hook, had studied under John Dewey at Columbia University. In the late 1930s, Hook assisted
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
in his efforts to clear his name in a special
Commission of Inquiry headed by Dewey, which investigated charges made against Trotsky during the
Moscow Trials
The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against "Trotskyists" and members of "Right Opposition" of the Communist Party of th ...
.
Anti-Communist
The
Great Purge
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...
encouraged Hook's increasing ambivalence toward Marxism. In 1939, Hook formed the Committee for Cultural Freedom, a short-lived organization that set the stage for his postwar politics by opposing "totalitarianism" on the left and right. By the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, Hook had become a prominent
anti-Communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
, although he continued to consider himself both a
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...
and a
secular humanist
Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality ...
throughout his life. He was, therefore, an anti-Communist socialist. In 1973, he was one of the signers of the
Humanist Manifesto II
''Humanist Manifesto II'', written in 1973 by humanists Paul Kurtz and Edwin H. Wilson, was an update to the previous ''Humanist Manifesto'' published in 1933, and the second entry in the ''Humanist Manifesto'' series. It begins with a statem ...
.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Hook helped found Americans for Intellectual Freedom, the
Congress for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist advocacy group founded in 1950. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the CIA was instrumental in the establishment and funding of the ...
(CCF), and the
American Committee for Cultural Freedom The American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF) was the U.S. affiliate of the anti-Communist Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF).
Overview
The ACCF and CCF were organizations that, during the Cold War, sought to encourage intellectuals to be c ...
. These bodies—of which the CCF was most central—were funded in part by the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
through a variety of fronts and sought to dissuade American leftists from continuing to advocate cooperation with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
as some had previously. Hook later wrote in his memoirs that he, "like almost everyone else," had heard that "the CIA was making some contribution to the financing of the Congress."
On February 6, 1953, Hook discussed "The Threat to Academic Freedom" with
Victor Riesel
Victor Riesel (; March 26, 1913 – January 4, 1995) was an American newspaper journalist and columnist who specialized in news related to labor unions. At the height of his career, his column on labor union issues was syndicated to 356 newspape ...
and others in the evening on
WEVD
WEVD was an American brokered programming radio station with some news-talk launched in August 1927 by the Socialist Party of America. Making use of the initials of recently deceased party leader Eugene Victor Debs in its call sign, the statio ...
radio (a Socialist radio station whose call letters referred to SPA founder
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate of the Soc ...
). In May 1953, the
John Day Company
The John Day Company was a New York publishing firm that specialized in illustrated fiction and current affairs books and pamphlets from 1926 to 1968. It was founded by Richard J. Walsh in 1926 and named after John Day, the Elizabethan printer. W ...
published ''
Heresy, Yes–Conspiracy, No'', a 283-page book expanded from a 1952 pamphlet (''Heresy, Yes–Conspiracy, No!''), itself expanded from a 1950 ''New York Times'' article called "Heresy, Yes–But Conspiracy, No."
In the 1960s, Hook was a frequent critic of the
New Left. He was opposed to a unilateral withdrawal of U.S. forces from the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
and defended California Governor
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
's removal of
Angela Davis
Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...
from her professorship at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
because of her leadership role in the
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
.
Hook was elected a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
in 1965
and ended his career in the 1970s and 1980s as a fellow of the
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
in
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
Later years
The
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
selected Hook for the 1984
Jefferson Lecture
The Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities is an honorary lecture series established in 1972 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). According to the NEH, the Lecture is "the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished ...
, the U.S. government's highest honor for achievement in the
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
. Hook's lecture was entitled "Education in Defense of a Free Society."
[Jefferson Lecturers](_blank)
at NEH Web site (retrieved January 22, 2009).
Personal life and death
Hook was a lifelong agnostic.
He married Carrie Katz in 1924, with whom he had one son. The couple separated in 1933.
[
][ Katz had studied at the Rand School in the early 1920s. There, she studied under ]Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing (August 6, 1883 – August 24, 1983) was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, pacifist, vegetarian and advocate of simple living.
Biography
Early years
Nearing was born in Morris Run, Tioga Coun ...
and came to write a chapter in his book ''The Law of Social Revolution'' entitled "The Russian Revolution of 1917" (1926). Friends from the Rand School included Nerma Berman Oggins, wife of Cy Oggins
Isaiah Oggins (also known as Ysai or Cy) (July 22, 1898 – 1947) was an American-born communist and spy for the Soviet secret police. After working in Europe and the Far East, Oggins was arrested, served eight years in the GULAG detention system ...
. She was a Communist Party member who was a "Fosterite" (i.e., she supported William Z. Foster amidst Party factionalism in the last 1920s). She went on to work at the Labor Defense Council. In 1935, Hook married Ann Zinken, with whom he had two children.
Hook died age 86 on July 12, 1989, in Stanford, California.
Awards
* 1984: ''In Praise of Reason Award'' from the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). awarded by CSICOP Chairman Paul Kurtz
Paul Kurtz (December 21, 1925 – October 20, 2012) was an American scientific skeptic and Secular humanism, secular humanist. He has been called "the father of secular humanism". He was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University at Buff ...
* 1985: Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
by President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
(May 23, 1985)
Legacy
Hook's memoir, ''Out of Step'', recounts his life, his activism for a number of educational causes, his controversies with other intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...
, and his recollections of Mortimer J. Adler
Mortimer Jerome Adler (December 28, 1902 – June 28, 2001) was an American philosopher, educator, encyclopedist, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for long stretches in N ...
, Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
, Morris Cohen, John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...
, Max Eastman
Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...
, Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
and Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
.
In October 2002, a conference marking the centennial of Hook's birth was organized by Matthew Cotter and Robert Talisse and held at the City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
Graduate Center in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
In April 2011 the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) (formerly known as CSICOP) again honored Hook. At a meeting of its executive council in Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the 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 western edge of t ...
he was selected for inclusion in their Pantheon of Skeptics. The Pantheon of Skeptics was created by CSI to remember the legacy of deceased fellows of CSI and their contributions to the cause of scientific skepticism.
''Hero in History''
Sidney Hook's book ''The Hero in History'' was a noticeable event in the studies devoted to the role of the hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
, the Great Man in history and the influence of people of significant accomplishments.
Hook opposed all forms of determinism
Determinism is a philosophical view, where all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and consi ...
and argued, as had William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.
James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...
, that humans play a creative role in constructing the social world and to transforming their natural environment. Neither humanity nor its universe is determined or finished. For Hook this conviction was crucial. He argued that when a society is at the crossroads of choosing the direction of further development, an individual can play a dramatic role and even become an independent power on whom the choice of the historical pathway depends.
In his book, Hook provided a great number of examples of the influence of great people, and the examples are mostly associated with various crucial moments in history, such as revolutions and crises. Some scholars have critically responded because, as one of them claims, "he does not take into account that an individual's greatest influence can be revealed not so much in the period of the old regime's collapse, but in the formation period of a new one. ..Besides, he did not make clear the situation when alternatives appear either as the result of a crisis or as the result of Great Man's plan or intention without manifested crisis".
Hook introduced a theoretical division of historic personalities and especially leaders into the eventful man and the event-making man, depending on their influences on the historical process. For example, he considers Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
as having been an event-making man, because of his having acted in an important circumstance to change the developmental direction not only of Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
but also of the whole world in the 20th century.
Hook attached great importance to accidents and contingencies in history, thus opposing, among others, Herbert Fisher, who made attempts to present history as "waves" of emergencies.
"Ethics of Controversy"
In 1954, Hook published an essay titled "The Ethics of Controversy" in which he set down ten ground rules for democratic discourse within a democracy.
Works
Books
''The Metaphysics of Pragmatism''
Chicago, The Open Court Publishing Company
The Open Court Publishing Company is a publisher with offices in Chicago and LaSalle, Illinois. It is part of the Carus Publishing Company of Peru, Illinois.
History
Open Court was founded in 1887 by Edward C. Hegeler of the Matthiessen-Hegel ...
, 1927.
*''Towards the Understanding of Karl Marx: A Revolutionary Interpretation'' New York City: John Day Company
The John Day Company was a New York publishing firm that specialized in illustrated fiction and current affairs books and pamphlets from 1926 to 1968. It was founded by Richard J. Walsh in 1926 and named after John Day, the Elizabethan printer. W ...
, 1933.
''Christianity and Marxism: A Symposium''
New York City: Polemic Publishers, 1934.
*''The Meaning of Marx'', an edited collection, 1934.
*''From Hegel to Marx'', 1936.
*''John Dewey: An Intellectual Portrait'', 1939.
*
Reason, Social Myths, and Democracy
', 1940.
''The Hero in History: A Study in Limitation and Possibility''
1943.
''Education for Modern Man''
1946.
*''John Dewey: Philosopher of Science and Freedom'', Hook, editor, 1950.
*'' Heresy, Yes–Conspiracy, No'', 1953 (originally published as soft-back in 1952 by American Committee for Cultural Freedom The American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF) was the U.S. affiliate of the anti-Communist Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF).
Overview
The ACCF and CCF were organizations that, during the Cold War, sought to encourage intellectuals to be c ...
)
*''Marx and the Marxists: The Ambiguous Legacy'', 1955.
''Common Sense and the Fifth Amendment''
New York City: Criterion Books, 1957.
*
Political power and personal freedom: critical studies in democracy, communism, and civil rights
', New York City: Criterion Books, 1959.
*''The Quest for Being, and Other Studies in Naturalism and Humanism'', 1961.
*''The Fail-Safe Fallacy'', 1962.
*''The Paradoxes of Freedom'', 1963.
*''The Place of Religion in a Free Society'', 1968.
*''Academic Freedom and Academic Anarchy'', 1970.
*''Pragmatism and the Tragic Sense of Life'', 1974.
*''Marxism and Beyond'', 1983.
*''Out of Step'', 1987.
*''Convictions'', 1990.
*''Sidney Hook on Pragmatism, Democracy, and Freedom: The Essential Essays'', Robert B. Talisse and Robert Tempio (eds.), Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2002.
*
World communism: key documentary material
', 1990.
Articles
(1934)
(1935)
(1936)
* "Academic Integrity and Academic Freedom," ''Commentary Magazine
''Commentary'' is a monthly American magazine on religion, Judaism, and politics, as well as social and cultural issues. Founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945 under Elliot E. Cohen, editor from 1945 to 1959, ''Commentary'' magazine dev ...
'' (1949)
* "Heresy, Yes—But Conspiracy, No," ''The New York Times'' (1950)
* "A Reply to the Editors' 'In Justice to Mr. Conant,'" ''New York Times'' (typescript March 15, 1953)
Articles for ''New Leader''
Hook's papers at Stanford include the following articles:
* "Where the News Ends" (November 26, 1938)
* "John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...
at Eighty" (October 28, 1939)
* "Socialists Face Need of Unified Action" (March 9, 1940)
* "Social Change and Original Sin" (November 8, 1941)
* "Russia's Military Successes Do Not Whitewash Crimes at Home" (January 31, 1942)
* "An Apologist for St. John's College" (November 25, 1944)
* "The Degradation of the Word" (January 27, 1945)
* "Freedom and Socialism: Reply to Max Eastman
Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...
" (March 3, 1945)
* "Reflections on the Nuremberg Trial: A Summary Court-Martial for Nazi Criminals" (November 17, 1945)
* "Fin du Mondisme: The Birth of a New World Mood in Face of Atombomb" (January 23, 1946)
* "An Unanswered Letter to the American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts.
History
The AJCongress was ...
" (July 5, 1947)
* "Mr. Fly's Web of Confusions: An Analysis of a Befuddled Decision" (October 18, 1947)
* "Mr. Fly Entangles Himself More Deeply" (November 22, 1947)
* "The State: Servile or Free?" (March 13, 1948)
* "John Dewey at Ninety: The Man and His Philosophy" (October 22, 1949)
* "Communists in the Colleges"(May 6, 1950)
* "Encounter in Berlin" (October 14, 1950)
* "Russia by Moonshine" Part 1 (November 12, 1951)
* "Russia by Moonshine" Part 2 (November 19, 1951)
* "Is America in the Grip of Hysteria?" (Editorial reply to Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
) (March 3, 1952)
* "Letter to an English Friend" (October 13, 1952)
* "Fall of the Town of Usher," (October 27, 1952)
* " Lattimore on the Moscow Trials" (November 10, 1952)
* "A Trans-Atlantic Dialogue" (December 8, 1952)
* "Should We Stress Armaments or Political Warfare?" (February 23, 1953)
* "Indoctrination and Academic Freedom" (March 9, 1953)
* "Freedom in American Culture" (April 6, 1953)
* "The Party Line in Psychology" (May 25, 1953)
* "The Ethics of Controversy" (February 1, 1954)
* "The Techniques of Controversy" (March 8, 1954)
* " Robert Hutchins Rides Again" (April 19, 1954)
* "The Substance of Controversy" (May 24, 1954)
* "Uncommon Sense about Security and Freedom" (June 21, 1954)
* "The Ethics of Controversy Again" (January 16, 1956)
* "The Strategy of Truth" February 13, 1956)
* "Six Fallacies of Robert Hutchins" (March 19, 1956)
* "Hutchins" (April 23, 1956)
* "Prospects for Cultural Freedom" (May 7, 1956)
* "The AAUP and Academic Integrity" (May 21, 1956)
* "Academic Freedom" (June 4, 1956)
* "Logic and the Fifth Amendment" (October 1, 1956)
* "Psychology and the Fifth Amendment" (October 8, 1956)
* "Ethics and the Fifth Amendment" (October 15, 1956)
* "Politics and the Fifth Amendment" (October 22, 1956)
* "Logic, History and Law" (November 5, 1956)
* "Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, American Pragmatist" (March 18, 1957)
* "The Fifth Amendment: A Crucial Case" (April 22, 1957)
* "The Atom and Human Wisdom" (June 3, 1957)
* "The Old Liberalism: The New Conservative" (July 8, 1957)
* "Marx, Dewey and Lincoln" (October 21, 1957)
* "Justice Black's Illogic" (December 2, 1957)
* "Pragmatism" (December 9, 1957)
* "A Debate on Pragmatism: Marx, Dewey and Eastman" (February 10, 1958)
* "A Foreign Policy for Survival" (April 7, 1958)
* "A Free Man's Choice" (May 26, 1958)
* "Bertrand Russell Retreats" (July 1958)
* "Education in Japan" (November 24, 1958)
Occasional papers
* Lecture by Sidney Hook on "Freedom, Determinism and Sentimentality" (annual Horace M. Kallen Lectureship) (November 21, 1957)[
]
See also
* American philosophy
American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevert ...
* List of American philosophers
This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States.
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* Heresy, Yes–Conspiracy, No
References
Further reading
* Cotter, Matthew J., ed., ''Sidney Hook Reconsidered'', Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2004.
* Diggins, John Patrick, ''Up From Communism'', New York City: Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
, then Harper & Row
Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City.
History
J. & J. Harper (1817–1833)
James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...
, 1975.
* Kurtz, Paul, ed., ''Sidney Hook and the Contemporary World'', New York: John Day and Co., 1968.
* Kurtz, Paul, ed., ''Sidney Hook: Philosopher of Democracy and Humanism'' (a festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
, for Hook's 80th birthday, containing four essays on his person and writings by Nicholas Capaldi, Milton R. Konvitz
Milton Ridbas Konvitz (March 12, 1908 – September 5, 2003) was a Cornell University faculty member. He died September 5, 2003, at the age of 95.
Early life, education and early career
He was born in 1908 in Safed, a city in what is now Israel ...
, Irving Kristol
Irving Kristol (; January 22, 1920 – September 18, 2009) was an American journalist who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism". As a founder, editor, and contributor to various magazines, he played an influential role in the intellectual ...
, and Paul Kurtz), Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1983.
* Levine, Barbara, ed., ''Sidney Hook: A Checklist of Writings'', Carbondale: Southern Illinois University, 1989.
*
* Sidorsky, David, "Charting the Intellectual Career of Sidney Hook: Five Major Steps," ''Partisan Review'', vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 324–342, 2003.
* Robert B. Talisse
Robert B. Talisse (born 1970) is an American philosopher and political theorist. He is currently Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is also a Professor of Polit ...
and Robert Tempio, eds., ''Sidney Hook on Pragmatism, Freedom, and Democracy: The Essential Essays'', Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2002.
External links
*
Book review of new edition of ''Towards the Understanding of Karl Marx'' (1933)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060721082114/http://www.wpunj.edu/newpol/issue28/jacobs28.htm Julius Jacobson on Hook and Cold War liberalismbr>''Chronicle of Higher Education'' article on the legacy of Sidney Hook
rchived_by_Wayback_Machine.html" ;"title="Wayback_Machine.html" ;"title="rchived by Wayback Machine">rchived by Wayback Machine">Wayback_Machine.html" ;"title="rchived by Wayback Machine">rchived by Wayback Machinebr>Christopher Phelps, "Left Hook, Right Hook: The Rules of Engagement."
Review
of David Gordon, ''Letters of Sidney Hook'' - by David Gordon (Fall 1998), 1995.
A warning against Menachem Begin.
*John Patrick Diggins
Ellen Frankel Paul, Fred Dycus Miller, Jeffrey Paul, eds., "Sidney Hook, Robert Nozick, and the Paradoxes of Freedom,"
''Natural Rights Liberalism from Locke to Nozick'' (''Social Philosophy and Policy'', vol. 22, no. 1, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 200–220, 2005.
David Sidorsky, essay on Sidney Hook, ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', online
Sidney Hook papers
at th
Hoover Institution Archives.
*
*
Sidney Hook Papers
at Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hook, Sidney
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