Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. – Page 59

Jan Vermeer | “Girl with a Red Hat” (1667) [Newberry on Great Art series]

The first ten Philosophers, Explained

1 Comment / News, Philosophy / Stephen Hicks

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

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Debate or not? A psychological red flag

1 Comment / Philosophy / Stephen Hicks

Exhibit A: Suppose one is studying Plato’s philosophy and encounters this question: Are the Forms to be taken as metaphysical realities or as rhetorical devices? One notes that for years scholars have informally discussed the issue. A formal debate is then proposed. Immediately, one observes this among some Platonists: 1.This should not be debated! Plato

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Some Thoughts Concerning Education | John Locke | Philosophers, Explained by Stephen Hicks

Leave a Comment / Philosophy / Fermin Elizalde

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

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Why must we imagine Sisyphus happy?

1 Comment / Philosophy / Stephen Hicks

The last line of Camus’s famous essay is: “We must imagine Sisyphus happy.” But why must we? He is condemned to roll a boulder up a hill, repeatedly. What pointless exertion. What futility. Just like most people’s lives. Here is my reading of Camus’s classic text, with explanation: Related: The full Philosophers, Explained series, including

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The soul of adventure — quotations

1 Comment / Ethics / Stephen Hicks

“I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1) “It is the mark of a free man not to live at another’s beck and call.” (Aristotle, Rhetoric 1367a30) “One profits more by the mistakes one makes off one’s own bat than by doing the right thing on

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J.S. Mill | On Liberty | Philosophers, Explained by Professor Stephen Hicks

Leave a Comment / Philosophy / Stephen Hicks

Who are the great philosophers, and what makes them great? This Episode: A close reading of Mill’s classic argument for robust free speech. The full playlist. Includes: About the Professor: 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

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The Sun King’s dying wish

4 Comments / Politics / Stephen Hicks

Reprising this quotation about things that stay the same: “King Louis XIV, the Sun King, died after seventy-two years on the throne. As he lay dying, the old king counseled his heir, his five-year-old great-grandson: ‘I loved war too much, do not imitate me in this, nor in my excessive spending habits.’ The five-year-old presumably

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