Letter to Roger Weightman, on the planned celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence Monticello June 24. 26 Respected Sir The kind invitation I receive from you on the part of the citizens of the city of Washington, to be present with them at their celebration of the 50th. anniversary of American […]
Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration’s 50th anniversary Read More »
My article “Ayn Alissa Rand (1905-1982)” was first published in the IEP in 2001. The original article focused on Rand’s life and times and some issues in her ethics. This update expands that treatment slightly, mentions a broader range of criticisms, and adds to the bibliography some of the scholarship since then. The encyclopedia is
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy — updated article on Rand Read More »
From the “Did he/she really say that?” file. Here is adversarial-feminist philosopher Sandra Harding on Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica: “why is it not as illuminating and honest to refer to Newton’s laws as ‘Newton’s rape manual’ as it is to call them ‘Newton’s mechanics’?”[1] How did she get there? Well, Francis Bacon did say that
Is Newton’s *Principia* a rape manual? Read More »
From Rousseau’s 1749 Discourse on the Arts and the Sciences: “Princes always view with pleasure the spread, among their subjects, of a taste for the arts of amusement and superfluities … The sciences, letters, and arts spread garlands of flowers over the iron chains with which men are burdened, … make them love their slavery,
Foucault as Rousseauian Read More »
Brett Veinotte interviewed me on postmodernism and its implications and impact on education. After some significant context-setting, the interview portion with me starts around the 28-minute mark. The book discussed is here in various editions and translations. My lecture on philosophy of education and postmodernism is here.
School Sucks podcast on education and pomo Read More »
I initially wrote “Would Immortality Be Worth It?” for my Introduction to Philosophy course. It’s a thought-experiment essay for a unit on The Meaning of Life towards the end of the semester. The essay was then published in Objectivity (1:4, 1992, 81-96) and is now online here in PDF format. The issue is this: When
Is Immortality Worth It? — 25 years later Read More »
Jean-Jacques Rousseau said: “While the state can compel no one to believe it can banish not for impiety, but as an antisocial being, incapable of truly loving the laws and justice, and of sacrificing, if needed, his life to his duty. If, after having publicly recognized these dogmas, a person acts as if he does
Jean-Jacques Rousseau on compulsory religious behavior [from Explaining Postmodernism] Read More »
[The following is a Polish translation of my “What Entrepreneurship Can Teach Us All About Life”. Here are links to translations into Spanish and Portuguese. Tekst ukazał się w The Wall Street Journal, 2 maja 2016. PDF.] Stephen R. C. Hicks Często myślimy o przedsiębiorcach jak o przerysowanych postaciach. Podejmują duże ryzyko. Tworzą własne zasady.
Czego przedsiębiorczość może nas nauczyć o życiu? [Polish translation] Read More »