Stephen D. Cox (born January 12, 1948) is the editor of ''Liberty'' magazine, an American online

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

and

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econ ...

review. He is also an

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 ...

professor of literature at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

and author of several non-fiction books.

Career

After receiving his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

from 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. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, Cox joined the faculty of UC San Diego in 1976. He was an associate editor of ''Liberty'' when the magazine began publishing in 1987. He was named as senior editor as of the March 1989 issue. Cox took over as editor-in-chief of the publication following the death of its founder and longtime editor and publisher,

R. W. Bradford Raymond William "Bill" Bradford (September 20, 1947 – December 8, 2005), who used R. W. Bradford as his pen name, was an American writer chiefly known for editing, publishing, and writing for the libertarian magazine ''Liberty''. Early life Br ...

, in December 2005. In addition to editing duties, he writes articles and commentary for the magazine. This includes his monthly "WordWatch" column, in which he comments on how language and

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and compu ...

influence culture and political discourse.

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called his 2009 book ''The Big House: Image and Reality of the American Prison'' "detailed and vivid". In ''

The Historian ''The Historian'' is the 2005 debut novel of American author Elizabeth Kostova. The plot blends the history and folklore of Vlad Țepeș and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula. Kostova's father told her stories about Dracula when she was a c ...

'', Matthew J. Mancini said Cox provided "a jolt of nonpartisan realism" about the prison as a cultural institution, but faulted him for not including discussion of modern novels about prison life. The book was also reviewed in ''

Choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a given ...

'' and ''

The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to r ...

''. His 2014 book ''American Christianity: The Continuing Revolution'' was described by '' Library Journal'' as a "fascinating, pleasurable read". In ''

Church History __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

'', Barry Hankins called it "provocative" with "some highly insightful observations about the ironies of American Christianity". The book was also reviewed in ''Choice'', '' Kirkus Reviews'', and

Touchstone Touchstone may refer to: * Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals * Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative merits of a concept Entertainment * ''Touchstone'' (album), a 1982 album by Chick Corea * T ...

Background and personal life

On his website, Cox indicates he is from rural Michigan. He received his BA degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Selected works

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

Stephen D. Cox
personal website

at UC San Diego * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Stephen D. 1948 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American academics of English literature American libertarians American male non-fiction writers American magazine editors American political writers University of California, San Diego faculty University of Michigan alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Gay academics Academics from Michigan