Stephen Hicks

Teachers unions and what’s good for the children

Leave a Comment / Education, Politics /

Here’s Albert Shanker, who was president of the American Federation of Teachers for twenty-three years, from 1974-1997: “When schoolchildren start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children.” The quotation’s accuracy is disputed, but it captures perfectly the relevant stances in education’s structurally adversarial dynamic. As in legal proceedings, attorneys […]

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Why Spinoza was excommunicated

1 Comment / Philosophy, Religion /

When he was only 23, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was excommunicated from the Jewish community in Amsterdam. His precocious intellect has already formed and argued themes that were to be developed into his mature works, Theological-Political Treatise (published anonymously in 1670) and Ethics (1677). The excommunication document said, in part: “no one should communicate with him,

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This week in religion — three things to read

Leave a Comment / Religion /

“The Pope’s Four Big Mistakes About Libertarianism.” Co-written by María Marty and Stephen Hicks for PanAm Post. Also in Spanish: “Los Cuatro Errores del Papa Francisco Sobre el Liberalismo.” “What Good is Religious Freedom?” Tara Smith in Arkansas Law Review. “Which Religion is the World’s Best?” My thoughts on the best religion ever, at Savvy

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The Pope’s Four Big Mistakes About Libertarianism — article published

5 Comments / Politics, Religion /

My article, co-written with María Marty, was published in PanAm Post: The opening: “Pope Francis has given us several glimpses of his position on liberalism. His are criticisms are direct and sometimes crude. And while the Pontiff got some points sort-of right, his message revealed mostly a lack of knowledge—or an intentional denial—of the principled

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What Good is Religious Freedom? Tara Smith article in Arkansas Law Review

Leave a Comment / Law, Religion /

Tara Smith has a very good article reinvigorating and extending the philosophical arguments for religious freedom: “What Good is Religious Freedom? Locke, Rand, and the Non-Religious Case for Respecting It” (Arkansas Law Review 69:4). Along the way she discusses the arguments and counter-arguments of John Locke, Brian Leiter, Jeremy Waldron, Ayn Rand, and others. Direct

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“Whistle-blowing and Government Secrets, Chelsea Manning edition” published

Leave a Comment / Business Ethics, Political Ethics series /

My short article “Whistleblowing and Government Secrets, Chelsea Manning edition” was published as part of the Political Ethics series at the Berens Foundation’s site. “In his final days in office, President Obama commuted the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning. While in the employ of the US Army, Manning had downloaded tens of thousands of government

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Educational paternalism and race — superintendant Ann Laing edition

Leave a Comment / Education, Politics /

Here’s Dr. Ann Laing, superintendant of the Racine, Wisconsin Unified School District: “The African-American families are the ones who are most prone to enroll their kids in the fly-by-night schools that cropped up after vouchers existed, and they don’t know how to make good choices for their children. They really don’t. They didn’t have parents

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