Richard Henry Popkin (December 27, 1923 – April 14, 2005) was an American academic philosopher who specialized in the history of
enlightenment philosophy and early modern anti-dogmatism. His 1960 work ''The History of Scepticism from Erasmus to Descartes''
[Later editions are enlarged and so have slightly different titles] introduced one previously unrecognized influence on Western thought in the seventeenth century, the
Pyrrhonian Scepticism of
Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus ( grc-gre, Σέξτος Ἐμπειρικός, ; ) was a Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher and Empiric school physician. His philosophical works are the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman Pyrrhonism, and bec ...
. Popkin also was an internationally acclaimed scholar on Christian
millenarianism and Jewish
messianism
Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Messianism originated as a Zoroastrianism religious belief and followed to Abrahamic religions, but other religions have messianism-related concepts ...
.
Life
Richard Popkin was born 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 ...
to author
Zelda Popkin
Zelda Popkin (née Feinberg; 5 July 1898 – 25 May 1983) was an American writer of novels and Mystery fiction, mystery stories. She created Mary Carner, one of the first professional female private detectives in fiction. Carner was a store detecti ...
and her husband Louis Popkin, who together ran a small public relations firm. He earned his bachelor's degree and, in 1950, his Ph.D. 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 ...
. He taught at American universities, including the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...
,
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 coll ...
,
Harvey Mudd College, the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...
,
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
, and the
University of California, Los Angeles
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 S ...
. He was visiting professor at
University of California Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
,
Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, ...
,
Duke University,
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
,
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
, and was Distinguished Professor at the
City University of New York. Popkin was the founding director of the International Archives of the History of Ideas.
Among his honors, Popkin was awarded the Nicholas Murray Butler Medal by
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 ...
and was 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, a ...
. He was president emeritus and founding editor of the ''Journal of the History of Philosophy''.
Richard Popkin spent his later years living in
Pacific Palisades,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. He died of
emphysema in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in April 2005. His papers have been archived at the
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (Clark Library), an affiliated library of the University of California, Los Angeles, holds rare books and manuscripts with particular strengths in English literature and history (1641–1800), Oscar ...
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 ...
.
Family
Popkin was survived by Juliet (née Greenstone, 1924-2015), whom he married in 1944, and two of their three children, the historian
Jeremy Popkin (b. 1948) and his younger daughter, Susan Popkin (b. 1961). Margaret Popkin (1950–2005) was a prominent civil rights lawyer and activist, known particularly for her work in El Salvador during the civil war of the 1980s.
Works
Popkin published many textbooks on philosophy, some with
Avrum Stroll
Avrum Stroll (February 15, 1921 – September 12, 2013) was a research professor at the University of California, San Diego. Born in Oakland, California, he was a distinguished philosopher and a noted scholar in the fields of epistemology, philos ...
. He was editor and translator of selections from ''Pierre Bayle’s Historical and Critical Dictionary'' (1965). His last book, ''Disputing Christianity'' (2007), was completed posthumously by his son Jeremy.
Popkin published two autobiographical writings: ''Intellectual Autobiography: Warts and All'' in ''The Sceptical Mode in Modern Philosophy. Essays in Honor of Richard H. Popkin'', 1988, pp. 103–149, and a continuation: ''Introduction: Warts and All Part 2'', in ''Everything Connects: In Conference with Richard H. Popkin. Essays in His Honor'', 1999, pp. XI-LXXVI.
Beyond his philosophical works, he is noted for writing ''The Second Oswald'' (1966), questioning the
Warren Report
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...
lone gunman explanation of the
John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle wi ...
. Popkin's theory was that a
look-alike of
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963.
Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...
was the actual assassin of Kennedy.
[Staff writer (Jul. 18, 1966)]
"Oswald Was Not Alone."
''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...
'' (Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
)
p. 4.
Accessed Aug. 18, 2014.
Selected bibliography
Works authored
* ''The History of Scepticism from Savonarola to Bayle''. Third enlarged edition, Oxford University Press, 2003. . (Earlier editions published as ''The History of Scepticism From Erasmus to Descartes'', Assen: Van Gorcum, 1960 and ''The History of Scepticism from Erasmus to Spinoza'', University of California Press, 1979. ).
* ''The High Road to Pyrrhonism'', edited by Richard A. Watson and James E. Force, Austin Hill Press, 1980 (reprint: Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993).
** Include: ''Hume's Racism Reconsidered'', pp. 64–75.
* ''Isaac La Peyrère (1596-1676): His Life, Work, and Influence'', Leiden: Brill, 1987.
* ''The Third Force in Seventeenth-Century Thought'', Leiden: Brill, 1992. Collection of essays.
* ''Spinoza'' (Oneworld Philosophers), 2004. .
* ''Disputing Christianity. The 400-Year-Old Debate over Rabbi Isaac ben Abraham of Troki's Classic Arguments'', Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2007.
* with
David S. Katz: ''Messianic Revolution. Radical Religious Politics to the End of the Second Millennium'', Hill & Wang, 2000.
* with Avrum Stroll: ''Philosophy Made Simple'', Doubleday (''Made Simple Books''), New York, 1956. .
* with Avrum Stroll: ''Introduction to Philosophy'', New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1961, (second edition 1972, third revised edition 1979).
* with Avrum Stroll: ''Philosophy and the Human Spirit. A Brief Introduction'', New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973.
* with Avrum Stroll: ''Skeptical Philosophy for Everyone'', Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2002.
Works edited
* ''The Philosophy of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries'', New York: Free Press, 1966.
* ''Scepticism in the History of Philosophy. A Pan-American Dialogue'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1996.
* ''The Columbia History of Western Philosophy'', Columbia University Press, 1999. .
* with Silvia Berti and Françoise Charles-Daubert, ''Heterodoxy, Spinozism, and Free Thought in Early-Eighteenth-Century Europe. Studies on the ''Traité des trois imposteurs'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1996.
* with Allison P. Coudert and Gordon M. Weiner, ''Leibniz, Mysticism, and Religion'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1998.
* with James E. Force, ''Essays on the Context, Nature, and Influence of Isaac Newton's Theology'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1990.
* with James E. Force, ''The Books of Nature and Scripture. Recent Essays on Natural Philosophy, Theology, and Biblical Criticism in the Netherlands of Spinoza's Time and the British Isles of Newton's Time'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1994.
* with James E. Force, ''Newton and Religion. Context, Nature, and Influence'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1999.
* with Yosef Kaplan and Henry Méchoulan, ''Menasseh Ben Israel and His World'', Leiden: Brill, 1989.
* with Donald R. Kelley, ''The Shapes of Knowledge from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1991.
* with José R. Maia Neto, ''Skepticism in Renaissance and Post-Renaissance Thought. New Interpretations'', Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2004.
* with José R. Maia Neto, ''Skepticism: An Anthology'', Prometheus Books, 2007.
* with Martin Mulsow, ''Secret Conversions to Judaism in Early Modern Europe'', Leiden: Brill, 2004.
* with Ezequiel de Olaso, Georgio Tonelli, ''Scepticism in the Enlightenment'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1997.
* with Jeremy D. Popkin, ''The Abbé Grégoire and His World'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2000.
* with Charles B. Schmitt, ''Scepticism from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment'', Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1987.
* with Michael Signer, ''Spinoza's Earliest Publication? The Hebrew Translation of Margaret Fell's ''A Loving Salutation to the Seed of Abraham among the Jews, wherever they Are Scattered Up and Down Upon the Face of the Earth'', Assen: Van Gorcum, 1987.
* with Avrum Stroll: ''Philosophy and Contemporary Problems. A Reader'', New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1984.
* with Arjo Vanderjagt, ''Scepticism and Irreligion in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries'', Leiden: Brill, 1993.
* with Gordon M. Weiner, ''Jewish Christians and Christian Jews. From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1994.
* with Johan van der Zande, ''The Skeptical Tradition Around 1800. Skepticism in Philosophy, Science, and Society'', Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1998.
* Millenarianism and Messianism in Early Modern Culture (4 vols.), Dordrecht: Kluwer.
** Vol. 1: Matt Goldish and R. H. Popkin (eds.). ''Jewish Messianism in the Early Modern World'', 2001.
** Vol. 2: Karl Kottmnan (ed.). ''Catholic Millenarianism: From Savonarola to the Abbé Gregoire'', 2001.
** Vol. 3: James E. Force and R. H. Popkin (eds.). ''The Millenarian Turn: Millenarian Contexts of Science, Politics and Everyday Anglo-American Life in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries'', 2001.
** Vol. 4: John Christian Laursen and R. H. Popkin (eds.). ''Continental Millenarians: Protestants, Catholics, Heretics'', 2001.
Non-academic works
* ''The Second Oswald''.
Avon Books
Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles rea ...
(1966). (ebook).
Essays in honor of R. H. Popkin
* Richard A. Watson and James E. Force (eds.), ''The Sceptical Mode in Modern Philosophy. Essays in Honor of Richard H. Popkin'', Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, 1988.
* Jeremy D. Popkin (ed.), ''The Legacies of Richard Popkin'', Dordrecht: Springer, 2008.
* James E. Force and David S. Katz (eds.), ''Everything Connects. In Conference with Richard H. Popkin: Essays in His Honor'', Leiden: Brill, 1999.
* José Raimundo Maia Neto, Gianni Paganini, John Christian Laursen (eds.) ''Skepticism in the Modern Age. Building on the Work of Richard Popkin'', Leiden: Brill, 2009.
See also
*
American philosophy
*
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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References
External links
, with an introduction by Richard H. Popkin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popkin, Richard
1923 births
2005 deaths
American historians of philosophy
20th-century American historians
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American Jews
Brandeis University faculty
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from emphysema
Duke University faculty
Emory University faculty
Jewish philosophers
Researchers of the assassination of John F. Kennedy
Scholars of modern philosophy
University of Iowa faculty
University of California, Berkeley faculty
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
University of California, San Diego faculty
University of Connecticut faculty
Washington University in St. Louis faculty
Spinoza scholars
20th-century American philosophers
Historians from California
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American Jews