Stephen R.C. Hicks's Blog, page 15

Pragmatism and Education: John Dewey [Lecture 9 of Philosophy of Education course]

By Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks, Rockford University, USA. Lecture 9: What is “Pragmatism”, and how did the major Pragmatist philosophers, John Dewey in particular, apply it to education? Previous lectures in the series: Part One: Introduction: What is the purpose of education, and what is philosophy’s relevance? Part Two: Reality: Metaphysics and Education: The Creation […]

IS GOD DEAD? KIERKEGAARD. Lecture 3 of Philosophy of Ethics course [Peterson Academy]

“Faith requires the crucifixion of reason.” Lecture Three: Is God Dead? Themes: Abraham and absolute faith. Psychological functionalism? Pascal’s Wager? Social functionalism? The Grand Inquisitor. Texts: Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling and Either-Or. Dostoevsky, “The Grand Inquisitor,” The Brothers Karamazov About the Instructor Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D. is Professor of Philosophy and the author of […]

How we came to have the Aristotle books we have — the fragility of historical preservation

Aristotle died in Greece in 322 BCE. In 86 BCE, the Roman general (and soon-to-be dictator) Sulla captured Athens. He confiscated the library of a man named Apellicon of Teos, whose collection included manuscripts of Aristotle and Theophrastus. Sulla had the library transported to Rome, where the meticulous Andronicus of Rhodes edited the texts, forming […]

Schleiermacher: “I repudiated rational thought in favour of a theology of feeling.”

“I repudiated rational thought in favour of a theology of feeling.” * This article in Oxford Academic notes that “Kant’s philosophy is one of the most important presuppositions of Schleiermacher’s thought and that his work would have been unthinkable without Kant’s.”  * Source: Schleiermacher, Friedrich. The Christian Faith [1821-22]. Ed. H. R. Mackintosh and J. […]

On currency debasement and castration

The history of those who debase money in an effort to get something for nothing — i.e., coin clippers, counterfeiters, and central bankers — is long and sordid. Here’s an eye-opener about how one medieval king dealt with officers found guilty of devaluing the currency: “Henry I castrated currency officials whose output was found wanting. […]

Kipling on the individual and the tribe

Re-posting this classic from Rudyard Kipling, which is also on my Quotations page: “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you’ll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to […]

What is the best logical fallacy? A competition

(A list received via email, originally credited to Brian McGroarty.) Ad Hominem: This is the best logical fallacy, and if you disagree with me, well, you suck. Appeal to False Authority: Your logical fallacies aren’t logical fallacies at all because Einstein said so. Einstein also said that this one is better. Appeal to Emotion: See, […]

Realism and Education: Aristotle and Locke [Lecture 8 of Philosophy of Education course]

By Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks, Rockford University, USA. Lecture 8: What did the great Realist philosophers believe—e.g., “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed”—and how they apply it to education? Previous lectures in the series: Part One: Introduction: What is the purpose of education, and what is philosophy’s relevance? Part Two: Reality: Metaphysics and Education. […]

ABSOLUTE DUTY: KANT. Lecture 2 of Philosophy of Ethics course [Peterson Academy]

“Duty is the necessity to act out of reverence for the law.” Lecture Two: Absolute Duty Themes: Purifying Ethics. Divine Command Theory. Moses. Uzzah. Whose interests: Egoist, Predatory, Altruist? None: Deontology. Texts: Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and Critique of Practical Reason About the Instructor Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D. is Professor of […]

Marxists and Violence — quotations, podcast, and video

Following up on posts on Marxism and its fellow travelers (Engels, Mao, Guzmán, Hobsbawm), a question about whether Marxism’s brutal history is a built-in consequence of its principles or an accidental by-product of well-intentioned theory. So a series of quotations (with sources) from some principal figures: Marx in 1848: “there is only one way in […]