Lecture 3. Morals & Human Nature Dr. Hicks examines how views of humans—as naturally destructive and conflictual (via the myth of Gyges and Freudian psychology) or cooperative and productive—shape ethics and business practices. “Lifeboat scenario” claims about resource scarcity influence moral decisions and highlight the tension between social Darwinism and altruistic sacrifice in zero-sum situations, […]

In a short 1995 essay, “The Gnostic,” published when he was co-founder of Russia’s National Bolshevik Party, Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin urges young Russians to drink “The wine of socialist revolution, the joy of rebellion against the forces of fate, and the sacred, berserker passion for total destruction of all that was black”. To do

According to The New York Times, Ali Larijani has effectively been running Iran since January 2026. He was in “charge of crushing, with lethal force, the recent protests demanding the end of Islamic rule.” [Source] He is now the key power broker in Iran’s transition. A colleague alerts me to the suprising-to-me fact that Larijani

Lecture 2. Egoism, Altruism, Predation In lecture two, we study three distinct moral frameworks—egoism, altruism, and predation. We examine how each type manifests across various domains of life, including business, sports, sexuality, and gift-giving, analyzing each approach through the dimensions of intent, action, and consequences. Dr. Hicks concludes by highlighting how entrepreneurial traits align with

introducing my eight-lecture Modern Philosophy course. What makes modern philosophy revolutionary? How does Francis Bacon propose a forward-looking philosophy of discovery? Other philosophers covered in the course include Descartes, Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Mill, and Nietzsche. The full course can be accessed here, along with my other courses, Postmodern Philosophy, The Philosophy

Perhaps you’ve seen this silly quotation: “Modern man is in a terrible predicament. He is helplessly enamored with the beauty of what the old world built, yet despises the beliefs that inspired them to build it.” It’s usually acribed to author Jeremy Tate and paired with an image of a wonderful old building. Here are