Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook (1902–1987) was one of America’s foremost social and political philosophers of the twentieth century. A student and acolyte of John Dewey, of whom he wrote a well-regarded intellectual portrait, he taught at all educational levels. He spent the bulk of his career as professor of philosophy at New York University, which awarded him the “Great Teacher Award” in 1963. He wrote well-received works in many areas, including, in addition to education, Marxism, pragmatism, the philosophy of history, the philosophy of democracy, and ethical issues such as euthanasia and suicide. Hook felt keenly about the importance of education for citizens of a democracy and in this volume spells out his views on how society may seek to implement that goal.