http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/307/focus/On_the_HookP.shtml
On the Hook Neoconservatives love him. Young radicals do too. Who will control the legacy of the world's greatest Marxist-Reaganist philosopher?
By Matthew Price, 11/3/2002
Despite the brief ruckus, the conference in question, ''Sidney Hook Reconsidered: A Centennial Celebration,'' went off as planned last weekend at the City University of New York's Center for the Humanities. Kramer and Himmelfarb stayed home, but Diggins, West, and 23 other panelists showed up to debate the legacy of one of the most polarizing figures of postwar intellectual life. With his early works, Hook made a name for himself as a daring and original interpreter of Marx; later, he became an ardent supporter of Ronald Reagan and secular humanism. A philosophical pragmatist with a dogmatic streak, a cold warrior and a socialist, and an erudite pugilist, Hook was a man of lively contradictions who lived for vigorous debate, often making short work of his antagonists.
In his later years, Hook's reputation as an
anticommunist scold tended to obscure - if not taint - his reputation as a philosopher following in the footsteps of his mentor, the more mild-mannered John Dewey. Though there was much talk of Hook's politics at the forum, it wasn't the only theme. ''We wanted to make the case for Hook's philosophical importance,'' says conference organizer Matthew Cotter, a graduate student at CUNY. This story ran on page D2 of the Boston Globe on 11/3/2002.