Ralph Lerner (philosopher)

{{short description|American political philosopher (born 1928)}}

Ralph Lerner (born 1928) is an American political philosopher.

Lerner was born in Chicago, and attended the University of Chicago for his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in political science.{{cite news |title=Ralph Lerner |url=https://hertogfoundation.org/staff/ralph-lerner |accessdate=8 February 2019 |publisher=Hertog Foundation}} His Ph.D. was advised by Leo Strauss.{{cite news |title=Ralph Lerner |url=https://leostrausscenter.uchicago.edu/node/154 |accessdate=8 February 2019 |publisher=Leo Strauss Center, University of Chicago}} Lerner later joined the Chicago faculty, where he was named the Benjamin Franklin Professorship until 2003, when he was granted emeritus status.{{cite news |title=Ralph Lerner |url=https://socialthought.uchicago.edu/directory/ralph-lerner |accessdate=8 February 2019 |publisher=University of Chicago}}

In keeping with a long-standing tradition of having fully tenured faculty teach 1st and 2nd year undergraduates at the University of Chicago, Professor Lerner taught a very popular course, Classics of Social and Political Thought, as part of the Social Sciences requirement of the Core Curriculum. Works discussed in this course included Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, The Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke, The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. He also taught an advanced course focusing exclusively on Alexis de Tocqueville's seminal work Democracy in America.