Joseph Cropsey: Both Ancient and Modern

Abstract

Joseph Cropsey dedicated himself to considering both ancient and modern thinkers. He detected fundamental questions about the human situation persistent through every era but often obscured by excessive insistence on opposing “modern” to “ancient.” He envisioned a great conversation among the greatest thinkers of antiquity and modernity in which they recognize a common inquiry into that which they do not yet know, companionable in the conviction that in their common seeking they cultivate the virtue of moderation both in philosophic reflection and in response to the issues of politics.