Hospers, John (1918-)

John Hospers is a philosopher and the first presidential nominee of the U.S. Libertarian Party. Hospers is best known to philosophers for his work in aesthetics, especially his book Understanding the Arts. He is the author of two widely used textbooks, Introduction to Philosophical Analysis and Human Conduct: Problems of Ethics. He taught at the University of Minnesota, Brooklyn College, and, beginning in 1966, the University of Southern California, where he also served as chairman of the philosophy department. In New York, he became acquainted with Ayn Rand and helped introduce her work to professional philosophers as editor of The Personalist and The Monist. In 1971, he published a comprehensive work, Libertarianism: A Political Philosophy for Tomorrow. That book and his academic stature made him ...