| "Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others." (Ambrose Bierce) | |
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What's New? Syllabi for my courses this semester, Ethics (PHIL 122), Business and Economic Ethics (PHIL 325), and Entrepreneurship and Ethics (ECON/ PHIL 376), can be found in the Courses section. And for the new academic year, here are my views on Excellence in Education (PDF), published in Decus in 2004.
My The Wall Street Journal op-ed on "Global Problems are Too Big for Little Kids" (PDF) is also available in German translation (PDF).
My review of Tara Smith’s Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist (Cambridge University Press, 2006) is now out in the October issue of the journal Philosophy in Review. The review is not available online. And speaking of Professor Smith, I recommend her essay Money Can Buy Happiness, reprinted from Reason Papers and now available at Amazon.
My article on “The Enlightenment” is forthcoming in The Cato Institute’s The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Ronald Hamowy is the editor; Sage is the publisher; and publication is scheduled for August of 2008. I (finally) finished an essay entitled “Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand,” to come out in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies in the fall of 2008. Here is the abstract: "Philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand are often identified as strong critics of altruism and arch advocates of egoism. In this essay, Stephen Hicks argues that Nietzsche and Rand have much in common in their critiques of altruism but almost nothing in common in their views on egoism." I am working with artist Michael Newberry on a project on the modern and postmodern art worlds. The working title is But Is It Art? An Irreverent History of Modern Art. Fascinating aesthetic and philosophical stuff. Completion date: Don’t ask. Flashback: Read the article: Free Speech and Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks. |
Worth Reading: 8/28 Good news or bad news? Daniel Griswold at Cato on the latest economic indicators. And here is a good question from Steven Horwitz: What are the most prevalent economic fallacies? (Via Division of Labour.) 8/27 Translating Locke, Berkeley, and Hume into English: philosopher Jonathan Bennett has this series of usefully edited and modified texts from Early Modern Philosophy. Bennett here explains why he has modified the texts and how he has modified them. 8/26 Political words worth fighting for: "Where there is courage, there is clarity." (Thanks to Bob M. for the link.) And Lester Hunt probes the issue of moral character and political worthiness. 8/25 David Thompson excerpts Keith Windschuttle on Foucault. I recommend Windschuttle's excellent The Killing of History. And an extended essay by Roger Kimball on Hegel and Fukuyama's End-of-History thesis. 8/23 At the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, an announcement of this semester's three guest speakers, Terry Noel, Anil Singh-Molares, and Emily Chamlee-Wright. Also check out the Center's web log, with items of interest on entrepreneurship, business ethics, and political economy. 8/22 Stem cells and the promise of a limitless supply of blood. (Thanks to Robert F. for the link.) An anthropomorphized though fascinating account of three raging storms on Jupiter. 8/20 On behalf of the Rockford Charter Schools Initiative, Cindy Harris has put out this press release (PDF). Based on the hilarious book "Yes, Minister", here's an equally hilarious video clip making a compelling argument for school choice. (Refresh the video link a couple of times in case YouTube has trouble finding it. Thanks to Karen for the link.) And my colleague Shawn Klein has given a fine makeover to his Who Needs Philosophy website. 8/19 A fine research-resources site: Historical Statistics. And an excellent chart graphing economic growth in the last 2,000 years. (Thanks to Anja for the links.) 8/18 Philosopher Irfan Khawaja's doctoral dissertation on the foundations of ethics. 8/16 In the light of the Internet and the wake of Hilary Clinton's campaign, Camille Paglia examines where feminism is and where it is going. And at WhyBoysFail.com, Richard Whitmire, explores how college gender imbalances impact the social scene. 8/15 This could become an excellent resource: Opposing Views, with verified experts arguing to defined topics. (Via Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.) But it looks like no opposing views will be permitted here: EclectEcon reports on the upcoming Hatefest that will be the U.N. World Conference against Racism. Meanwhile, Johan Norberg excerpts this amusing item on how to gain the trust and respect of white people. 8/14 Random House decides to give religious fanatics veto power over what books it may publish. (Thanks to Barbara for the link.) Meanwhile, the encouraging decision in DeJohn vs. Temple University may put college speech codes further on the defensive. 8/13 Ryan Krause reviews The Dark Knight: evil as evil ought to be. And David Thompson is not playing the joker when he quotes two postmodernists on why clear writing is evil: "clear writing is bourgeois and ideologically contaminated, being as it is, 'the approved mode of expression for the society and values of the newly empowered middle class.'" 8/11 The importance of autonomy for colleges and universities and why government funding is one possible threat. A biology professor is fired for teaching the wrong side of the nature-nurture debate. And should ICANN declare any domain name suffixes off-limits? 8/8 Some informative quotations from environmentalists. (Thanks to Bob M. for the link.) By contrast, Michael Shaw's Liberty Garden project embraces "abundance ecology" and shows how property rights and free markets are essential for a healthy environment. And human ingenuity in action: aerial photos of rooftop gardens in New York City. 8/7 Time to get cranky about taxes again. Russell Roberts has a few recent tax facts. Rakinder Grover identifies the scheme as steal from all and reward the politically connected. Indeed. California is shaping up to be a leading case study: As The Wall Street Journal points out, California is close to displacing New York as Number 1. Meanwhile, John Matsusak wonders what good California's $41 billion in new state spending has done. 8/6 Philosopher Denis Dutton on elitism and the significance of "reverse dominance hierarchy" and whether we humans have evolved a Pleistocene-era small-group zero-sum mentality that makes it difficult for (some of) us to understand modern economic reality. And here is economist Tim Leonard "Origins of the Myth of Social Darwinism: The Ambiguous Legacy of Richard Hofstadter's Social Darwinism in American Thought" (PDF). (Via David Bernstein at The Volokh Conspiracy.) 8/4 Despite the slowdown, some economic good news. But are Americans developing a case of old-fashioned wealth envy? And Jonah Goldberg wonders whether capitalism breeds whiners. (Thanks to Anja for the link.) 7/30 Radley Balko has some good questions for candidates McCain and Obama. 7/25 New frontiers in mosaic art: check out Mosaika Art and Design's portfolio. 7/24 Fascinating and fun to read: social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister wonders: Is There Anything Good About Men? (Thanks to Johann for the link.) Archives: Worth Reading 2008, Worth Reading 2007, Worth Reading 2006, Worth Reading 2005, Worth Reading 2004, Worth Reading 2003. |
My essay “Ethics and Economics” appears in editor David Henderson's The Concise Encyclo- pedia of Economics, now available from 
Translations into German and Korean of my essay “Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics”: Chul Han Park's 
My article on “Objectivism” appears in Sage Publication's recently- released five-volume, 2592- page reference work, 
My essay on “Why Art Became Ugly,”