Sydney Hook

Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook in late life
Born	(1902-12-20)December 20, 1902 New York
Died	July 12, 1989(1989-07-12) (aged 86) Stanford, California
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Pragmatism
Main interests	Politics, Education, Marxism,
Notable ideas	Communists and other conspirators could be barred from offices of public trust
Influences John Dewey, Morris Raphael Cohen, Karl Marx, Bertrand Russell
Influenced Paul Kurtz, Morris Janowitz, Lionel Trilling,Barbara Branden

Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902 – July 12, 1989) was an American philosopher of the Pragmatist school known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics. After embracing Communism in his youth, Hook was later known for his criticisms of totalitarianism, both fascism, and Marxism–Leninism. A pragmatic social democrat, Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives, particularly in opposing Communism. After World War II, he argued that members of such groups as the Communist Party USA and other Leninist conspiracies could ethically be barred from holding the offices of public trust because they called for the violent overthrow of democratic governments.

Hook was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Jennie and Isaac Hook, who were Austrian Jewish immigrants. Sidney Hook became a supporter of the Socialist Party during the Debs era when he was in high school.

He earned his Bachelor's degree at the City College of New York in 1923, then his Ph.D. degree at Columbia University in 1927, where he was a student of the noted pragmatist philosopher John Dewey. After Columbia, Hook became a professor of philosophy at New York University and, from 1948 to 1969, was head of the Department of Philosophy. He retired from the University in 1972.