I had a happy realization that I’ve done four live public debates and each was on a different continent. Australia (Brisbane) 2020: Topic: Is Postmodernism Right-Wing or Left-Wing? Europe (Belgrade) 2023: Topic: Open or Closed Objectivism? North America (New York) 2019: Do Free Societies Need Postmodernism? South America (Buenos Aires) 2018: Morality of Capitalism vs. […]
Four Continents, Four Debates Read More »
Immanuel Kant is arguably the most influential philosopher of the past 240 years. Yet the essayist Heinrich Heine made this claim about Immanuel Kant’s philosophy: “Immanuel Kant, the arch-destroyer in the realm of thought, far surpassed in terrorism Maximilian Robespierre.” Harsh language, and it goes against a standard interpretation of Kant as the savior of
Why did Heine say Kant is an intellectual “terrorist”? Read More »
Who are the great philosophers, and what makes them great? Episodes: The full playlist. Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, USA, and has had visiting positions at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the University of Kasimir the Great in Poland, Oxford University’s Harris Manchester College in England, and Jagiellonian
Philosophy of History | G.W.F. Hegel | Philosophers, Explained by Stephen Hicks Read More »
The flip side to “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” is “Those who do learn from history can duplicate its successes.” Five propositions about the Middle East: 1. The Middle East now is like Europe 500 years ago—a mix of religious hatreds, ethnic rivalries, national conflicts, cycles of revenge—along
Middle East conflicts and the biggest big picture solution Read More »
The teenaged Rodin applied for admission to the École des Beaux-Arts. But: “Rodin, who competed for the first time at seventeen, failed to gain admission — not once but three times within eighteen months. The humiliation of these rebuffs was scarcely lessened by the fact that the examiners acknowledged his gift for drawing but rejected
Art school reject: Auguste Rodin Read More »
(Reprising this post on my favorite biography.) I finished Anthony Holden’s Tchaikovsky (Random House, 1995), an outstandingly well-written account of the great composer’s life. Here is an indication of the young Pyotr’s aptitude for music: “Tchaikovsky’s parents entertained a Polish pianist of their acquaintance, who naturally gave an evening concert for the thin line of
Anthony Holden’s Tchaikovsky Read More »
An Artist’s View: Michael Newberry on Key Works of Art in History Michael Newberry, is an avant-garde figurative painter, writer and teacher promoting evolutionary flourishing through his work. He does this through advances in color theory, body language, symbolism, and composition. Michael is the author of two books released in 2021: Evolution Through Art and Newberry
Jan Vermeer | “Girl with a Red Hat” (1667) [Newberry on Great Art series] Read More »
The published series now includes thirty episodes, of which the first ten are: 1 Immanuel Kant on the limits of reason. Critique of Pure Reason. 2 William James on pacifism and defeating militarism. “The Moral Equivalent of War.” 3 Galileo Galilei on not persecuting scientists, “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina.” 4 Arachne and Athena
The first ten *Philosophers, Explained* Read More »