Sidney Hook’s Heresy Yes, Conspiracy No, published in 1953, tried to weave a way between the excesses of McCarthyism and what its author took to be the naive indifference to the real dangers of Soviet communism rampant among American liberals. Mostly known now as an embarrassing if well intentioned attack on Academic Freedom at the hight of the Red Scare, the book is actually an insightful exploration of the limits of liberal tolerance and the paradoxes of the liberal impulse to embrace illiberal beliefs in the name of free speech. If nothing else it can be read now as a reminder that today’s culture wars have deep roots. But Hook’s insights find eerie echos in todays shrill and divided politics.

Cultural Vigilantes and Tribal Liberals

Hook was convinced international Communism posed a serious risk to the US in the 1950s…Keep reading