Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in a letter to James Boswell: “Sir, I have no liking for the world. I live here in a world of fantasies and I cannot tolerate the world as it is. … Mankind disgusts me.” On why Rousseau is now more important than Marx in explaining the substantial pathological elements in our intellectual […]
“Sir, I have no liking for the world. …” (Rousseau) Read More »
James Lindsay and I focus on the influential Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose anti-Enlightenment ideology is very much in fashion again after the disasters of Marxist socialism in the 20th century. Bad ideas don’t go away after failure — they get repackaged and re-introduced in other guises. Discussion hosted by Michael O’Fallon. From the description: When you
Is Rousseau now more important than Marx? (With O’Fallon and Lindsay) Read More »
We’re posting serially the transcripts of my Open College podcasts. Here’s the 18th. My second discussion with Professor Peterson ranges over postmodernism, language, power, and what makes for a genuine education. Open College podcast published a 40-minute audio excerpt of the discussion; the full video discussion is available at Dr. Peterson’s site. Here is a
Jordan B. Peterson discussion [Open College transcript] Read More »
Here’s a link to my panel discussion on Critical Race Theory and Pipeline Cyber-Threats and Politics. Vickie Oddino hosted me and economist Richard Salsman. I contrast individualist anti-racism to the new Postmodern- and Critical-Theory-derived strategies. Along the way I discuss these three revealing descriptions of (1) postmodern anti-individualism, (2) the structural part of “structural racism”,
Panel: Critical Race Theory quotes, and Pipeline Threats and Politics Read More »
Critical Race Theory and Medical Education Stephen R. C. Hicks, Department of Philosophy, Rockford University, Illinois, USA 61108 [Invited comment on J. Tsai, “Building Structural Empathy to Marshal Critical Education into Compassionate Praxis: Evaluation of a Peer-Led Critical Race Theory Course,” for Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, Special Issue on “Race and Ethnicity in
Critical Race Theory and Medical Education [Commentary] Read More »
I’ve received colorful correspondence from people upset with me over a dozen philosophical issues — especially from those who think Kant was Enlightenment/objectivist/liberal, Nietzsche was thoroughly individualist, Rand was antisocial, and that postmoderns are the good guys — as well as those who chastise me for supporting neither Trump nor Biden. Then there are those
Angry emails this year Read More »
Stephen R. C. Hicks Traducido al Español por Fermín Elizalde. Podcast in English. Tanta brutalidad ha surgido de activistas inspirados en Marx. Podríamos pensar que es solo un subproducto accidental de una teoría bien intencionada. ¿O es realmente una consecuencia necesaria e intencional de sus principios? Para empezar, ¿qué quiero decir con la larga historia
Políticas Violentas – La Lección de la *Filosofía* Marxista Read More »
Steven Sanders, Ph.D., is professor of philosophy at Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts. “Hicks writes about modern European philosophy and the Anglo-American tradition with sophistication and an eye for the thought-revealing anecdote.” Reason Papers 28 (Spring 2006): 111-124. Copyright © 2006Stephen R. C. Hicks’s Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to FoucaultA DiscussionSteven M. SandersBridgewater
Professor Steven Sanders’ review of *Explaining Postmodernism* Read More »
[I’m teaching biomedical ethics this semester and so revisiting some posts on innovation and progress.] Current infant mortality rates are less than half of one percent, and it is awful for parents who lose a child. But in the 1700s, infant mortality rates were over 50%. I came across this in Robert K. Massie’s Catherine
Some appalling infant mortality numbers from history Read More »
Stephen Hicks: Philosopher, Highwayman By: Kevin Ryan The philosopher navigates from the passenger seat of our Mazda CX-3 as we cross Stone Arch Bridge in deepening afternoon, over the North Mississippi with its polluted blue water. “Everything is connected,” he says. “Everything has implications.” When he talks, he floats his hands. Throughout the day, random
The Blaze profile: “Stephen Hicks: Philosopher, Highwayman” [re-printing] Read More »