John Hospers
| John Hospers | |
|---|---|
| Libertarian candidate for President of the United States |
|
| Election date November 7, 1972 |
|
| Running mate | Tonie Nathan |
| Opponent(s) | Richard Nixon (R) George McGovern (D) John G. Schmitz (AI). |
| Incumbent | Richard Nixon (R) |
| Preceded by | N/A |
| Succeeded by | Roger MacBride |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 9, 1918 Pella, Iowa |
| Died | June 12, 2011 (aged 93) Los Angeles, California |
| Political party | Libertarian |
| Profession | Academician |
John Hospers (June 9, 1918 – June 12, 2011)[1] was an American philosopher. In 1972 he was the first presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party, and the only minor party candidate to receive an electoral vote in the 1972 U.S. Presidential election.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Education and career
Born in Pella, Iowa, Hospers graduated from Central College. Hospers earned advanced degrees from the University of Iowa and Columbia University. He conducted research, wrote, and taught in areas of philosophy, including aesthetics and ethics. He taught philosophy at Brooklyn College and at the University of Southern California (USC) Department of Philosophy, where for many years he was chairman of the philosophy department.[3]
Hospers was professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Southern California.
In 2002, an hour-long video about Hospers' life, work, and philosophy was released by the Liberty Fund of Indianapolis, as part of its Classics of Liberty series.[4]
[edit] Works
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 its 3rd edition, 1995), Understanding the Arts (1982), and Libertarianism – A Political Philosophy for Tomorrow (1971). He was editor of three anthologies, and contributed to books edited by others. He authored about 150 articles in various scholarly and popular journals.
Hospers was editor of The Personalist (1968–1982) and The Monist (1982–1992), and was a senior editor at Liberty magazine.[5]
[edit] Friendship with Ayn Rand
During the period he taught philosophy at Brooklyn College, Hospers was much interested in Objectivism. He appeared on radio shows with Ayn Rand, and devoted considerable attention to her ideas in his ethics textbook Human Conduct.[6]
According to Rand's biographer, Barbara Branden, Hospers met Rand when she addressed the student body at Brooklyn College. They became friends, and had lengthy philosophical conversations. Rand's discussions with Hospers contributed to her decision to write nonfiction. Hospers read Atlas Shrugged, which he considered an aesthetic triumph. Hospers also became convinced of the validity of Rand's moral and political views, but disagreed with her about issues of epistemology, the subject of their extensive correspondence.[7] Rand broke with Hospers after he criticized her talk on "Art as Sense of Life," before the American Society of Aesthetics at Harvard.[8]
[edit] Politics
In the 1972 U.S. Presidential election, John Hospers and Tonie Nathan were the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, respectively, of the Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party was poorly organized, and Hospers and Nathan managed to get on the ballot in only two states[9] (Washington and Colorado), receiving 8715 popular votes.[10] They received one electoral vote from faithless elector Roger MacBride, a Republican from Virginia, resulting in Nathan becoming the first woman to have received an electoral vote in a United States presidential election.[9]
[edit] Electoral history
United States presidential election, 1972
- Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew (R) (inc.)—47,168,710 (60.7%) and 520 electoral votes (49 states carried)
- George McGovern/Sargent Shriver (D)—29,173,222 (37.5%) and 17 electoral votes (1 state and D.C. carried)
- John Hospers/Theodora Nathan (Libertarian)—8,715 (0.0%) and 1 electoral vote
- John G. Schmitz/Thomas J. Anderson (American Independent)—1,100,868 (1.4%)
- Linda Jenness/Andrew Pulley (Socialist Workers)—83,380 (0.1%)
- Benjamin Spock/Julius Hobson (People's)—78,759 (0.1%)
- Others—135,414 (0.2%)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "John Hospers, first Libertarian presidential nominee, dies at 93". Libertarian Party (press release). June 13, 2011. http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/john-hospers-first-libertarian-presidential-nominee-dies-at-93. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ Reason, "John Hospers, RIP," by Jesse Walker (June 13th, 2011 - retrieved on June 14th, 2011).
- ^ Biographical Sketch of John Hospers
- ^ http://www.libertyfund.org/details.asp?displayID=1933
- ^ http://www.libertyunbound.com/
- ^ Berliner, Michael S. (ed). Letters of Ayn Rand. New York: Plume, 1997. p. 502–564.
- ^ Branden, Barbara, The Passion of Ayn Rand. New York: Anchor Books, 1986. p. 323–324, 413; Berliner, Michael S. (ed). Letters of Ayn Rand. New York: Plume, 1997. p. 502–564.
- ^ Branden, Barbara, The Passion of Ayn Rand. New York: Anchor Books, 1986. p. 324.
- ^ a b Dionne, E. J. Why Americans Hate Politics. Touchstone: New York, 1991. p. 269
- ^ Our Campaigns, "US President National Vote (1972)" (retrieved on June 13th, 2011).
years=1972 (3rd in the electoral college)| after=Roger MacBride
[edit] External links
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by No one (Party not yet created) |
Libertarian Party Presidential candidate 1972 (3rd in the electoral college) |
Succeeded by Roger MacBride |
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- 1918 births
- 2011 deaths
- American academics
- American book editors
- American magazine editors
- American philosophers
- American political philosophers
- American political writers
- Brooklyn College faculty
- California Libertarians
- Columbia University alumni
- Determinists
- Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees
- Libertarian theorists
- People from Pella, Iowa
- United States presidential candidates, 1972
- University of Southern California faculty
- Writers from California
- Writers from Iowa
- Writers from New York City
