Stephen Hicks

Is German philosophy really Counter-Enlightenment? Nietzsche’s assessment

Leave a Comment / History of Philosophy /

My Explaining Postmodernism book is negative on the major developments in German philosophy, tracing a devolution from Kant through Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Heidegger to the postmodernists. Lots of room in that story for nuances and exceptions, and I’ve received much criticism for being harsh on the German thinkers. I have two forthcoming Open College […]

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Errol Morris asks, “Was Thomas Kuhn Evil?”

Leave a Comment / Philosophy /

Good question about a philosopher’s beliefs, character, and the connections between them. John Horgan reviews Morris’s memoir-and-critique of Kuhn’s proto-postmodernism. I discuss Kuhn’s impact on first-generation postmodernism in Explaining Postmodernism, noting first how in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn concludes that metaphysical subjective relativism is true (if we can use that word): “the proponents

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Universities should be deeply embarrassed …

Leave a Comment / Education, Politics /

… that it’s come to this: Politicians feel they can/must nudge them or coerce them into basic intellectual civility. The President of the United States uses the financial big stick: “Many have become increasingly hostile to the First Amendment and free speech. Under the guise of speech codes, safe spaces, and trigger warnings, these universities

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Why Postmoderns Train—Not Educate—Activists [Open College series]

Leave a Comment / Education /

A new episode of my podcast series, produced by Possibly Correct out of Toronto. Audio: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Topics: Why indoctrination makes sense to postmodernists // Modern ideal of liberal education // My undergraduate experience // New-fashioned indoctrination Transcription: Forthcoming. Sources: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859), Chapter 2. Mark Lilla: “The history of French philosophy in

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Why Postmoderns Train—Not Educate—Activists

2 Comments / Education /

At the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, my article “Why Postmoderns Train—Not Educate—Activists.” Teasers: Who said this? We cannot escape our ethnocentric predicament. We must, in practice, privilege our own group. And this? You don’t want to build up your opponent’s arguments; you want to squelch them. This? Renounce all philosophical speculation and

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