“Nothing else can be stated as the aim of our existence except the knowledge that it would be better for us not to exist.” Lecture Four: Altruism and Self-Sacrifice Themes: Suffering. Nihilism. Self-interest and selflessness. Egoism, Predation, and Altruism. The Religion of Humanity. Texts: Schopenhauer, The Basis of Morality and The World as Will and […]
My initial list of key issues and themes in the new Trump-MAGA era. Please add other major issues/themes in the comments. State them neutrally, as my purpose here is to identify the topics and not to make arguments for or against. 1. Real estate: Donald Trump is a real-estate-guy-now-become-President and thinking expansion: Greenland, Canada 2.
MAGA and Trump: What Are the Issues? Read More »
The ideological roots of Hamas are the Islamic religion as updated and politicized. The most influential thinker in this tradition is Sayyid Qutb, who was executed by the Egyptian government. Qutb’s thought was incorporated into Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda, the Ayatollah Khomeini’s theocratic Iran, and, among others, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas and philosopher-theologian Sayyid Qutb Read More »
A quotation from Martin Heidegger’s Winter Semester course of 1933–34. Earlier that year the National Socialists under Adolf Hitler had come to power. Heidegger had become Rector of the University of Freiburg and was an active supporter of the Nazi regime. The quotation speaks to the state of Heidegger’s thinking. Note also that this is
Heidegger’s War against Internal Enemies of the People Read More »
Você provavelmente já ouviu as más notícias: supostamente, os recursos naturais estão acabando. Como resultado, surge a questão: você continuará a utilizar recursos de forma egoísta — ou você está disposto a se sacrificar? Possivelmente, você (como individuo) é uma pessoa abnegada, contudo, qual é a probabilidade de que a maioria das outras pessoas desista
Vivemos realmente em um mundo de recursos escassos? Não Read More »
Updating this chart from my Free Speech & Censorship course, used when we read Catharine MacKinnon’s Only Words (Harvard, 1993), an influential egalitrian-postmodern feminist case for the censorship of pornography. By then we have already read Plato’s pre-modern case for censorship from Book 10 of Republic and John Stuart Mill’s modern case for free speech
Feminisms: liberal versus egalitarian-postmodern Read More »
By Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks, Rockford University, USA. Lecture 9: What is “Pragmatism”, and how did the major Pragmatist philosophers, John Dewey in particular, apply it to education? Previous lectures in the series: Part One: Introduction: What is the purpose of education, and what is philosophy’s relevance? Part Two: Reality: Metaphysics and Education: The Creation
Pragmatism and Education: John Dewey [Lecture 9 of Philosophy of Education course] Read More »
“Faith requires the crucifixion of reason.” Lecture Three: Is God Dead? Themes: Abraham and absolute faith. Psychological functionalism? Pascal’s Wager? Social functionalism? The Grand Inquisitor. Texts: Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling and Either-Or. Dostoevsky, “The Grand Inquisitor,” The Brothers Karamazov About the Instructor Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D. is Professor of Philosophy and the author of
IS GOD DEAD? KIERKEGAARD. Lecture 3 of Philosophy of Ethics course [Peterson Academy] Read More »