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Stephen Cox, RIP

Stephen Cox, RIP

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October 11, 2024

Stephen Cox, RIP

David Kelley

We are deeply sad to learn that Stephen Cox died last month. He was Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. He was also a dear friend and colleague who contributed often to TAS publications and events.

In 1993, for the 50th anniversary of The Fountainhead organized by The Atlas Society (then the Institute for Objectivist Studies), I wrote a philosophical piece on Ayn Rand’s novel but I also wanted a literary perspective and asked Steve. He gave a great talk, which you can find on the TAS site: The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead. Both our talks are included in The Literary Art of Ayn Rand (2nd edition).

Steve contributed many other articles for TAS and spoke at our annual Summer Seminar, in addition to his many other writings on literature, politics, and wherever else his interests led him. Most recently he was an active participant in the Research Workshop, a discussion group on advanced issues in Objectivism, which I co-manage with Raymond Raad and David Ross. As David observed,

This is very sad news. I first met Stephen at the Fountainhead celebration David mentioned; he gave a wonderful talk. And he and I chatted about Rand, New York City, and McKim, Mead, and White afterward. His wit, charm, and insight have added much to the Research Workshop. Ray and I had the good fortune to get to know him better, and to benefit from his truly amazing knowledge of literature, literary theory, and culture last semester when he helped organize the sessions on esthetics. I’ll miss him.

In addition to his contributions to TAS programs and publications, Steve was a valued personal friend and advisor. I spoke with him regularly by phone or in person; more than once over the years, he gave me personal and professional advice that I have always remembered because he cut to the essential issue in any struggle I might have had.

Steve was a prominent intellectual in the libertarian movement. The movement has been dominated by economists, philosophers, and other specialists; Stephen was in a minority of literary experts, who recognized the important role of novelists like Ayn Rand and Isabel Patterson, both of whom Stephen wrote about. 

His contributions in that regard were immense. For a fuller picture of Steve’s impact and character, we are grateful to his good friend Chris Sciabarra, who wrote a lovely, heart-felt tribute to Stephen, for permission to republish it below.

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RIP Stephen Cox, 1948-2024, October 1, 2024

Late last month, I learned that my dear friend and longtime colleague, Stephen D. Cox, died on September 6, 2024. I knew Stephen for more than thirty years.

A literary and cultural historian, Stephen was Professor of Literature and Director of the Humanities Program at the University of California, San Diego. He was also a libertarian who wrote much on the history of classical liberalism, including a wonderful biography of Isabel Paterson, The Woman and the Dynamo: Isabel Paterson and the Idea of America (2004). He was a senior editor of Liberty magazine when it was founded in 1987 and became editor-in-chief in 2005, upon the passing of its founder—another very dear friend, Bill Bradford.

Stephen’s publication history is noteworthy for its breadth and depth. His early works included literary studies such as “The Stranger Within Thee”: Concepts of the Self in Late-Eighteenth-Century Literature (1980) and Love and Logic: The Evolution of Blake’s Thought (1992). He also published on historical and religious subjects: The Titanic Story: Hard Choices, Dangerous Decisions (1999), The New Testament and Literature: A Guide to Literary Patterns (2006), and American Christianity: The Continuing Revolution (2014). And his book, The Big House: Image and Reality of the American Prison, deals compellingly with the problems of control, institutional power, and sexuality within the American system of incarceration.

Stephen and I first met in 1993 at an event held in Manhattan by the Institute for Objectivist Studies. He was enthusiastic about my original historical research and interpretive perspective on Ayn Rand and offered to provide critical commentary on early drafts of Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical, whose first edition was published in 1995. He’d do the same for Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism, which was published in 2000. His edits and suggestions improved the final projects immeasurably.

And yet, our professional engagement was far more extensive than that. In 1999, Stephen, Bill Bradford and I became the founding coeditors of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, the first double-blind peer reviewed scholarly periodical devoted to the study of Ayn Rand’s thought, influence, and legacy. Though Bill died in 2005, Stephen would continue as an editor, peer reader, and contributor to the journal’s pages through its conclusion in 2023.

Over the years, our friendship deepened. We talked often on the phone—and he’d open every email with “Darling!” and I’d reply with “Sweetheart!” He was such a supportive, caring, and loving friend who was there for me through triumphs and tragedies, good times and bad. He always sent his blessings to me, especially during those difficult periods of my life. He was an Episcopalian Christian, whose tidings of joy arrived religiously, every Christmas and Easter, along with a host of lovely hymnals on YouTube. He knew I was baptized Greek Orthodox, so he made sure to send me Easter greetings anytime our Easters differed on the calendar.

Stephen was also gay, and we shared many personal stories through the years. 

We last corresponded a month before he died; he was in great spirits and his wicked sense of humor was on full display.

I truly can’t believe he is gone. This is a devastating loss. My deepest condolences to all those who were blessed to have known him.

Rest in peace, dear friend.

David Kelley Ph.D
About the author:
David Kelley Ph.D

David Kelley founded The Atlas Society (TAS) in 1990 and served as Executive Director through 2016. In addition, as Chief Intellectual Officer, he was responsible for overseeing the content produced by the organization: articles, videos, talks at conferences, etc.. Retired from TAS in 2018, he remains active in TAS projects and continues to serve on the Board of Trustees.

Kelley is a professional philosopher, teacher, and writer. After earning a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University in 1975, he joined the philosophy department of Vassar College, where he taught a wide variety of courses at all levels. He has also taught philosophy at Brandeis University and lectured frequently on other campuses.

Kelley's philosophical writings include original works in ethics, epistemology, and politics, many of them developing Objectivist ideas in new depth and new directions. He is the author of The Evidence of the Senses, a treatise in epistemology; Truth and Toleration in Objectivism, on issues in the Objectivist movement; Unrugged Individualism: The Selfish Basis of Benevolence; and The Art of Reasoning, a widely used textbook for introductory logic, now in its 5th edition.

Kelley has lectured and published on a wide range of political and cultural topics. His articles on social issues and public policy have appeared in Harpers, The Sciences, Reason, Harvard Business Review, The Freeman, On Principle, and elsewhere. During the 1980s, he wrote frequently for Barrons Financial and Business Magazine on such issues as egalitarianism, immigration, minimum wage laws, and Social Security.

His book A Life of One’s Own: Individual Rights and the Welfare State is a critique of the moral premises of the welfare state and defense of private alternatives that preserve individual autonomy, responsibility, and dignity. His appearance on John Stossel’s ABC/TV special "Greed" in 1998 stirred a national debate on the ethics of capitalism.

An internationally-recognized expert on Objectivism, he has lectured widely on Ayn Rand, her ideas, and her works. He was a consultant to the film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, and editor of Atlas Shrugged: The Novel, the Films, the Philosophy.

 

Major Work (selected):

Concepts and Natures: A Commentary on The Realist Turn (by Douglas B. Rasmussen and Douglas J. Den Uyl),” Reason Papers 42, no. 1, (Summer 2021); This review of a recent book includes a deep dive into the ontology and epistemology of concepts.

The Foundations of Knowledge. Six lectures on the Objectivist epistemology.

The Primacy of Existence” and “The Epistemology of Perception,” The Jefferson School, San Diego, July 1985

Universals and Induction,” two lectures at GKRH conferences, Dallas and Ann Arbor, March 1989

Skepticism,” York University, Toronto, 1987

The Nature of Free Will,” two lectures at The Portland Institute, October 1986

The Party of Modernity,” Cato Policy Report, May/June 2003;and Navigator, Nov 2003; A widely cited article on the cultural divisions among pre-modern, modern (Enlightenment) and postmodern views.

"I Don't Have To" (IOS Journal, Volume 6, Number 1, April 1996) and “I Can and I Will” (The New Individualist, Fall/Winter 2011); Companion pieces on making real the control we have over our lives as individuals.

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