1902-1989
Philosopher, Educator

Prominent Intellectual.

A well-known college professor who expressed views on virtually all the major political and social issues of his times, Sidney Hook was among the notable American intellectuals whose political thinking underwent a major shift between the 1920s and the late 1940s, as he and other leftists became increasingly disillusioned with the Soviet Union. Hook embraced Marxist theory in the 1920s, but by the beginning of the Cold War in the late 1940s, he had turned to a conservative defense of democracy.

Early Years.

Hook was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and began studying philosophy as an undergraduate at the City College of New York. After receiving a B.S. in 1923, he began teaching in New York City public schools and enrolled in graduate studies in philosophy at Columbia University. Hook got a master's degree in 1926 and won a university...