Ronald Hamowy facts for kids
Ronald Hamowy (born April 17, 1937 – died September 8, 2012) was a Canadian professor. He was well-known for his ideas in politics and society. He taught intellectual history (which is the study of how ideas change over time) at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Hamowy strongly believed in libertarianism, a political idea that focuses on individual freedom and limiting what the government can do. His writings often talked about these important ideas.
Ronald Hamowy's Life Story
Hamowy was born in Shanghai, China. His family was Jewish, with his father from Syria and his mother from Egypt. He grew up in New York City.
He studied economics and history at Cornell University and City College of New York. In 1960, he joined a special program at the University of Chicago to get his advanced degree. He studied under a famous professor named Friedrich Hayek. He also studied in England at Balliol College, Oxford and in France at the University of Paris.
In 1968, he came back to the United States. He taught at Stanford University. In 1969, he became a professor at the University of Alberta in Canada. He taught there until 1975. Then, he moved to Simon Fraser University in British Columbia for two years. After that, he returned to the University of Alberta, where he taught until he retired in 1998. He spent his later years living near Washington, DC.
His Academic Work and Ideas
Hamowy liked to teach and study using many different subjects. He would discuss ideas from history, philosophy, law, politics, economics, literature, medicine, and even psychiatry. This is called a multidisciplinary approach.
He was influenced by important thinkers who came to the United States from Europe. These thinkers included Hans Kohn, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich Hayek. Hamowy admired his professor, Hans Kohn, who first got him interested in intellectual history. He also attended talks by Ludwig von Mises, a well-known economist.
Hamowy met Friedrich Hayek when he went to the University of Chicago in 1960. Hayek had a big impact on Hamowy's ideas about free markets and society.
One of Hamowy's main interests was the idea of "spontaneous order." This means that important and complex things in society can happen naturally. They come from many individuals acting on their own, rather than from a central plan or decision. Hamowy was an expert on this idea and even felt comfortable disagreeing with his mentor, Hayek, about it.
His Beliefs in Libertarianism
Ronald Hamowy first learned about libertarianism in the mid-1950s. He became friends with other young libertarians like Ralph Raico and Murray Rothbard.
This group of friends formed a club called the "Circle Bastiat." They named it after Frédéric Bastiat, a French thinker who believed in freedom. The group, including Hamowy, Rothbard, Raico, and others, often met at Rothbard's apartment in Manhattan for long discussions. Hamowy and Rothbard remained close friends until Rothbard passed away in 1995.
When Hamowy moved to the University of Chicago in 1960, he became an editor for a student magazine called the New Individualist Review. Later, he became a co-Editor in Chief. Even though it was a student publication, many famous scholars wrote for it. These included future Nobel Prize winners like Hayek, Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and Ronald Coase. Hamowy himself wrote articles, even having friendly debates with his professor Hayek.
Throughout his career, he continued to write for and support groups that promote libertarian ideas. These included organizations like The Independent Institute, Institute for Humane Studies, and The Cato Institute. He also contributed to journals such as the Journal of Libertarian Studies and the Cato Journal.
While living in Canada, he worked to promote a free society, especially in Western Canada. He wrote for the Fraser Institute and helped student clubs that focused on individual liberty and political freedom.
