I’m speaking at the Movimento Brasil Livre conference in São Paulo at 4 p.m. The click-to-enlarge image of the schedule is at right. 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 […]
Tomorrow in Brazil: On Postmodernism and the Left Read More »
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
Ken Wilber on the postmodern Paul de Man debacle Read More »
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
Lecture in São Paulo, Brazil, November 24 Read More »
Episode 4 in my Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks podcast series. Audio links: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Topics: Our contemporary pessimists and cynics // Gray, Rorty, and Foucault // The Enlightenment and its promises // How to assess the Enlightenment era // Data // Postmodernism // Real concerns and trade-offs versus pessimism Transcription: Forthcoming Sources: Michel
“The Dim Ruins of the Enlightenment” [Open College series] Read More »
The chart indicates that about fourteen adult males are incarcerated for every adult female who is. Also, on lengths of sentences: “males received 12 percent longer prison terms than females after ‘controlling for the offense level, criminal history, district, and offense type.’” Follow-up questions: 1. Do males collectively commit 14 times the number of crimes
Male and female incarceration rates in the USA Read More »
The third episode in my Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks podcast series. Audio links: iTunes. Soundcloud. Stitcher. YouTube. Topics and times: Conceptual clarification: “conservative,” “revolutionary,” “liberal” // Donald Trump versus Charles Koch // Robert Bork, Irving Kristol, Russell Kirk, Pat Buchanan, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn // Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, and Ayn Rand // Why
Conservatives Are *Not* Free-market Capitalists [Open College series] Read More »
The newest Kaizen Weekly Review is out. Readings on: * Should CEOs speak up on social issues? * 8 things every person should do before 8:00 a.m. * The rise and fall of Argentina. * How China may be stepping back from the free-market, pro-business policies that transformed it into the world’s No. 2 economy.
CEE’s *Kaizen Review* — October edition Read More »
The audiobook of the Expanded Edition of my Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault is now available at Audible and iTunes: Audible iTunes The narrator is Scott R. Smith. Listening length is 7 hours and 23 minutes. The expanded edition includes my Free Speech and Postmodernism and From Modern to Postmodern Art: Why Art Became Ugly essays. Images
*Explaining Postmodernism* audiobook now available Read More »
I like this photograph. It reminds me that no matter how fractious our current political mood is, we live in civilized times. Democratic-republics are peaceful in an important respect: Transfers of power rarely require the death of the current top office holder. Carter, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, and Obama are still alive, and each
Living ex-presidents and democratic health Read More »
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
Open College launched: “Free Speech: Why the *Philosophy* Matters” Read More »