BIOGRAPHICAL Main Page Order Online Biographical Articles Links Who Is John Hospers?
First Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate (1972)
John Hospers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJohn Hospers (born 9 June 1918) is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. Hospers earned advanced degrees from the University of Iowa and Columbia University and taught in the fields of philosophy and aesthetics. Early in his career he taught philosophy at Brooklyn College and at California State University, Los Angeles.
Hospers' books include: Meaning and Truth in the Arts (1946), Introductory Readings in Aesthetics (1969), Artistic Expression (1971), Law and the Market (1985), Introduction to Philosophical Analysis (now in the 4th edition, 1996), Human Conduct (now in the 3rd edition, 1995), Understanding the Arts (1982), Libertarianism – A Political Philosophy for Tomorrow (1971). He was editor of three anthologies and has contributed to books edited by others. He has authored about 150 articles in various scholarly and popular journals.
Hospers was editor of The Personalist (1968-82) and of The Monist (1982-92). He is an editor of Liberty magazine.
He became friends with Ayn Rand in the late 1950s, and according to the Daily Objectivist, "Hospers wasn't exactly a libertarian when he met Ayn Rand, but he largely came around to her way of thinking..." [1] Recognizing that Rand's ethical system could also be supported by others unfamiliar with Objectivist epistemology and metaphysics, he codified a somewhat broader common principle that opposes the initiation of physical force (see non-aggression_principle); this formulation later became the certification statement (or "pledge") required for membership in the United States Libertarian Party.
Hospers was the first presidential candidate of the United States Libertarian Party, running in the 1972 presidential election. He and his vice-presidential running mate, Theodora Nathan, received one electoral vote from Roger MacBride, a Republican elector from Virginia.
Hospers also ran for governor of California as a Libertarian in 1974.
In 2002, an hour-long video about his life, work, and philosophy was released by the Liberty Fund of Indianapolis as part of its Classics of Liberty series.
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"According to libertarianism, the role of government should be limited to the retaliatory use of force against those who have initiated its use. It should not enter into other areas, such as religion, social organization, and economics." -- John Hospers, quoted in Tibor Machan's The Libertarian Alternative (1974)
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John Hospers - Libertarian
by Bill WinterJohn Hospers has two significant "firsts" by his name: he was the first presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party, and his book Libertarianism was one of the first full-length studies of the modern libertarian philosophy.
Born in a small town near Des Moines, Iowa, Hospers grew up speaking Dutch as a first language. In college, Hospers admired philosophers David Hume, John Stuart Mill, Plato, and Aristotle. He went on to earn a Master's degree in literature from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University.
In the late 1950s, Hospers was introduced to novelist Ayn Rand. The meeting blossomed into friendship, and the two spent many evenings in philosophical conversation. Hospers later recalled those talks as "among the most intellectually exhilarating of my life." The Daily Objectivist wrote: "Hospers wasn't exactly a libertarian when he met Ayn Rand, but he largely came around to her way of thinking..."
In 1971, Hospers published Libertarianism: A Political Philosophy for Tomorrow, a book-length study of the modern philosophy of liberty. . . . [I]t is widely considered to be one of the defining books of the libertarian movement.
At the Libertarian Party's inaugural national convention in Denver, Colorado in 1972, Hospers was invited to write the party's Statement of Principles. Later, at the same convention, he was nominated to be its first presidential candidate. "I was a little bit thrilled, and a little bit terrorized" about winning the nomination, he wrote later in an article for LewRockwell.com (August 23, 2003). "One day I was a college professor, and the next day a candidate for the nation's highest office." With vice presidential candidate Tonie Nathan, the Libertarian ticket appeared on two state ballots and won 3,907 votes. What had started out as a political footnote ended up in history textbooks when Hospers and Nathan won one Electoral College vote (from renegade Richard Nixon elector Roger MacBride).
After his presidential bid, Hospers returned to the University of Southern California's philosophy department, where he taught courses in ethics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of law. Since his retirement in 1988, he has served as USC's professor emeritus of philosophy.
The author of over 100 articles, Hospers also wrote Meaning and Truth in the Arts (1967), Introductory Readings in Aesthetics (1969), Artistic Expression (1971), Understanding the Arts (1982), Law and the Market (1985), Human Conduct: Problems of Ethics (1995), and An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, Fourth Edition (1996). In addition, he served as a Senior Editor for Liberty magazine, editor of The Personalist, and was a film reviewer for Reason (1974-1982).
A staunch supporter of U.S. military preparedness, Dr. Hospers spent many years as an active member of and advisor to the Libertarian Party Defense Caucus in collaboration with Darlene Brinks, Michael Dunn, Shirley Gottlieb, and others. In 2002, an hour-long video about his life, work, and philosophy was released by the Liberty Fund of Indianapolis as part of its Classics of Liberty series.
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