George Kateb
Encyclopedia
George Kateb is William Nelson Cromwell
Professor of Politics, Emeritus, at Princeton University
. Kateb, along with John Rawls
and Isaiah Berlin
, is credited with making significant contributions to liberal political theory. A staunch individualist, Kateb has written scholarly works on Ralph Waldo Emerson
, John Stuart Mill
, and Hannah Arendt
, and the ethical dimensions of the individual in a constitutional democracy. More recently Kateb has turned his attention to what he sees as the increasing erosion of individual liberty wrought by the Bush
administration and the poisonous influence of religious, ethnic and statist group identity on morality.
Kateb earned his A.B., A.M. and Ph.D. at Columbia University
and was a Junior Fellow at Harvard University
. He then taught at Amherst College
for thirty years before joining the faculty at Princeton
in 1987. As a member of the executive committee of the University Center for Human Values he was involved with the search committee that somewhat controversially appointed noted Australian philosopher Peter Singer
to a chair in bioethics
at Princeton
in 1999. Kateb is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
. He has also served as vice president of the American Society of Political and Legal Philosophy and president of the New England Political Science Association. In addition, Kateb has served as a member of the editorial board or consulting editor of the Journal of the History of Ideas
, the Library of America
, Alternative Futures, the American Political Science Review
, Political Theory, and Raritan Quarterly Review
. He is also a recipient of the Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities from Princeton
. Kateb retired from teaching in 2002.
William Nelson Cromwell
William Nelson Cromwell was an American attorney active in promotion of the Panama Canal and other major ventures.He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised there by his mother, Sarah M. Brokaw, a Civil War widow...
Professor of Politics, Emeritus, at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. Kateb, along with John Rawls
John Rawls
John Bordley Rawls was an American philosopher and a leading figure in moral and political philosophy. He held the James Bryant Conant University Professorship at Harvard University....
and Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
, is credited with making significant contributions to liberal political theory. A staunch individualist, Kateb has written scholarly works on Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
, John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
, and Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
, and the ethical dimensions of the individual in a constitutional democracy. More recently Kateb has turned his attention to what he sees as the increasing erosion of individual liberty wrought by the Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration and the poisonous influence of religious, ethnic and statist group identity on morality.
Kateb earned his A.B., A.M. and Ph.D. at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and was a Junior Fellow at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He then taught at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
for thirty years before joining the faculty at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1987. As a member of the executive committee of the University Center for Human Values he was involved with the search committee that somewhat controversially appointed noted Australian philosopher Peter Singer
Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...
to a chair in bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1999. Kateb is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
. He has also served as vice president of the American Society of Political and Legal Philosophy and president of the New England Political Science Association. In addition, Kateb has served as a member of the editorial board or consulting editor of the Journal of the History of Ideas
Journal of the History of Ideas
The Journal of the History of Ideas is a peer-reviewed academic journal which publishes research in intellectual history. The journal "defines intellectual history expansively and ecumenically," and includes the histories of philosophy, literature and the arts, natural and social sciences,...
, the Library of America
Library of America
The Library of America is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature.- Overview and history :Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LoA has published over 200 volumes by a wide range of authors from Mark Twain to Philip...
, Alternative Futures, the American Political Science Review
American Political Science Review
The American Political Science Review is the flagship publication of the American Political Science Association and is the most prestigious journal in political science according to the ISI 2004 Journal Citation Report...
, Political Theory, and Raritan Quarterly Review
Raritan Quarterly Review
Raritan is a well-regarded literary journal that publishes poetry, fiction and essays. The journal is based at Rutgers University in New Jersey...
. He is also a recipient of the Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities from Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. Kateb retired from teaching in 2002.