In his 1835 work on Religion and Philosophy in Germany, Heinrich Heine makes this strong claim about Immanuel Kant’s philosophy. While many have characterized Kant as fundamentally a man of reason and a paragon of the Enlightenment, Heine suggests otherwise: “But though Immanuel Kant, the arch-destroyer in the realm of thought, far surpassed in terrorism […]
Heine on Kant as the Robespierre of philosophy Read More »
Plato on Censorship and “the Ancient Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry” Excerpt from Book 10 of The Republic. Written 360 B.C.E. [Socrates and Glaucon in conversation] [Speakers: Socrates and Glaucon in conversation] [Socrates:] Of the many excellences which I perceive in the order of our State, there is none which upon reflection pleases me better
Plato’s Myth of Gyges Excerpt from Book 2 of The Republic Written 360 B.C.E. The liberty which we are supposing may be most completely given to them in the form of such a power as is said to have been possessed by Gyges the ancestor of Croesus the Lydian. According to the tradition, Gyges was
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Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Excerpt from Book 7 of The Republic (360 BCE) Written 360 B.C.E. [Socrates and Glaucon in conversation] [Socrates:] And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened:—Behold! human beings living in a underground den, which has a mouth open towards the
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Imagine a college dormitory, students away from home, and available alcohol. In any student population, some will drink too much. But most will do fine. Now suppose a Dean of Students who installs a bar in the dorm and subsidizes the price of booze, especially for favored students. Not surprisingly, the amount of student drunkenness
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WHAT FOUCAULT LIKED TO DO TO ARAB BOYS. Excerpt from Douglas Murray’s The War on the West (2022): It is always unpleasant—as well as unwise—for thinkers to lambaste each other because of the habits of their personal lives. The personal is not always political and is certainly not always philosophical. Yet in March 2021, a
What Foucault liked to do with Arab boys — excerpt from Murray’s book Read More »
This is a very good discussion and I recommend it as worth your time: My quibble is with the War-on-the-West formulation. It’s important to remember that it’s first a war in the West, not on the West. The ideas that animate the “anti-West” activists also originated within the West and are a long part of
A quibble—Douglas Murray, Jordan Peterson, and the War on the West Read More »
The MIT Free Expression Working Group was appointed by President Rafael Reif to review MIT’s free expression policies in response to the Abbot cancellation. John Chisholm‘s updating letter to the Working Group is published here with permission of the author. March 30, 2022 Dear Penny, Phil, Annalisa, Steve, and other members and partners of the
Duda Teixeira, Crusoé magazine Interview with Stephen R. C. Hicks, Professor of Philosophy, Rockford University, USA Link to Portuguese edition; English follows. 1. Is there a Putinistic ideology? Or is it just a messy gathering of thoughts? Stephen Hicks: Putin’s expressed ideas do form a more or less coherent set of principles and plans, though
Six questions on Putin: Short interview for Crusoé magazine, Brazil Read More »
15-lecture series by Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks, Rockford University. Part Thirteen: Marxism, Marx, and Education: What is Karl Marx’s philosophy, and how does it apply to education in a capitalist society and in preparing students for a revolutionary social change? Previous lectures in the series: Part One: Introduction: What is the purpose of education, and
Education Theory 13: Marx, Marxism, and Education Read More »