Sidney Hook Quotes
Sidney Hook was an American philosopher, long-time professor at New York University, and one of the most prominent American public intellectuals of the twentieth century. A pupil of John Dewey, he produced his Towards the Understanding of Karl Marx in 1933, the first serious American philosophical study of Marx, and remained throughout his career a defender of an experimental, democratic, and anti-Stalinist socialism that gradually moved him toward Cold War liberalism. The quotes below are attributed to Sidney Hook, organized by topic.
Browse Sidney Hook by topic
Sidney Hook on Freedom
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Attributed to Sidney Hook:
“A free society is one in which we agree to disagree by reasoning.”
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“To silence criticism is to silence freedom.”
New York Times Magazine (30 September 1951)
Sidney Hook on Knowledge
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“Nothing and no one is immune from criticism .”
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“Everyone involved in a controversy has an intellectual responsibility to inform himself of the available facts.”
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“Criticism should be directed first to policies, and against persons only when they are responsible for policies, and against their motives or purposes only when there is some independent evidence of their character.”
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“Because certain words are legally permissible, they are not therefore morally permissible.”
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“Before impugning an opponent's motives, even when they legitimately may be impugned, answer his arguments.”
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“Do not treat an opponent of a policy as if he were therefore a personal enemy or an enemy of the country or a concealed enemy of democracy.”
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“Do not hesitate to admit lack of knowledge or suspend judgment if evidence is not decisive either way.”
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“Only in pure logic and mathematics, not in human affairs, can one demonstrate that something is strictly impossible. Because something is logically possible, it is not therefore probable... The question is always one of the balance of probabilities. And the evidence for probabilities must include more than abstract possibilities.”
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“The cardinal sin, when we are looking for truth of fact or wisdom of policy, is refusal to discuss, or action which blocks discussion.”
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Sidney Hook on Politics
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Attributed to Sidney Hook:
“Democracy without dissent is tyranny in disguise.”
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Attributed to Sidney Hook:
“Marx is best understood as a philosopher of practice, not of dogma.”
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Attributed to Sidney Hook:
“The hero in history is the one whose actions are not merely effects.”
Sidney Hook on Time
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“Since a good cause may be defended by bad arguments, after answering the bad arguments for another's position present positive evidence for your own.”
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Sidney Hook on Truth
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Attributed to Sidney Hook:
“What is worth defending must be defended in plain speech.”