Joseph Cropsey (
New York, August 27, 1919 –
Washington, D.C., July 1, 2012)
was an American
political philosopher and
professor emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
...
of
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, where he was also associate director of the
John M. Olin Center for Inquiry into the Theory and Practice of Democracy.
Biography
Cropsey was a student of
Leo Strauss, who inspired him to move from his original academic field—
economic thought—to a much more theoretical approach to political thought. Since then, Cropsey had focused on
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
and the "esoteric", interstitial philosophical aspects of the theories developed by such thinkers as
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...
and
Karl Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
.
His son,
Seth Cropsey (a graduate of
St. John's College), is an
American neoconservative analyst for the
Hudson Institute, 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 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...
(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
See also
*
American philosophy
*
List of American philosophers
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 neverthe ...
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
Leo Strauss scholars