Richard Henry Popkin (December 27, 1923 – April 14, 2005) was an American academic philosopher who specialized in the history of

enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

philosophy and

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

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 (, ; ) was a Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher and Empiric school physician with Roman citizenship. His philosophical works are the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman Pyrrhonism, and because of the argument ...

. Popkin also was an internationally acclaimed scholar on Christian

millenarianism Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenarianism exists in various cultures and re ...

and Jewish

messianism Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Some religions also have messianism-related concepts. Religions with a messiah concept include Hinduism (Kalki), Judaism ( Mashiach), Christianity ( ...

Life

Richard Popkin was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

to author

Zelda Popkin Zelda Popkin (née Feinberg; 5 July 1898 – 25 May 1983) was an American writer of novels and mystery stories. She created Mary Carner, one of the first professional female private detectives in fiction. Carner was a store detective who appeared ...

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 in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He taught at American universities, including the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

The University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or 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 colleges offer ...

Harvey Mudd College Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, focused on science and engineering. It is part of the Claremont Colleges, which share adjoining campus grounds and resources. The college enrolled 902 undergra ...

, the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, and the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. 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, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, and was Distinguished Professor at the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) 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 ...

. 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

and was a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) 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 other ...

. 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 U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He died of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in April 2005. His papers have been archived at the

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (Clark Library), is a library affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds books and manuscripts with particularly many regarding English literature and history from the 17th-19th ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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. 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 P ...

lone gunman explanation of the

John F. Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline, Texas gove ...

. Popkin's theory was that a

look-alike A look-alike, or double, is a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another person, excluding cases like twins and other instances of Family resemblance (anthropology), family resemblance. Some look-alikes have been notable individua ...

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 age 12 for truan ...

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 (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' (

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

)
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 a leading publisher 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 reaching and ma ...

(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.

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