Philosophy

Another datum on how postmodernism’s political reflexes are authoritarian — despite its high-theory-ambiguity stance — and that the theory provides rhetorical cover for politicization. Ken Wilber (via Joshua Zader): ‘”The end of any serious deconstructionist movement came with the Paul de Man debacle. On the morning of December 1, 1987, the New York Times reported […]

I’ll be speaking at the Movimento Brasil Livre conference in São Paulo at 4 p.m. My topic is “Postmodernism’s Influence on the Contemporary Left”: What is postmodernism, and why is it so prevalent? How has it evolved and devolved over the last generation — especially among left intellectual and activist movements? Here’s some background on

Episode 2 in my Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks podcast series. Audio link: iTunes Soundcloud Stitcher Topics and times: History // Three options: coincidence, unintended consequences, intended // Quoting Marx, Engels, Lenin, Dzerzhinsky, Trotsky, Hobsbawm // Environmental determinism in Marxism // Plasticity of human nature in Marxism // Economic circumstances as fundamental social-environmental forces //

Reposting for weekend listeners, the first episode of my Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks podcast series. Audio links: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/open-college-podcast/id1438324613 Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/opencollegepodcast/open-college-1-free-speech Topics and Times: What a meaningful life requires: [00:00 — 03:31] Far left and far right on metaphysics, human nature, and ethics [03:31 — 10:35] Walt Whitman quotation [09:28 — 10:35] Why the authoritarian left [10:35

I’ll be speaking on the theme of “Combating Authoritarianism” at this weekend’s conference. Thanks to SFL’s Cheyanne Durham and the team at The Atlas Society for making this possible.