Stephen R.C. Hicks's Blog, page 37

Francis Bacon on marriage versus the single life

The opening of Bacon’s essay “Of Marriage and Single Life”: “He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief. Certainly, the best works, and of the greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men.” Bacon was […]

The Migrant Crisis and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables

1/3: On cities taking in migrants, many of rough and uncertain character, at high cost & safety risk to themselves. Hypothesis: Think of the priest in the powerful early scene of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables and the Broadway play and Hollywood movie. … 2/3: The priest takes in a debased and unknown-to-him Jean Valjean, recently escaped […]

What students learn at university: Hayek’s observation

In The Road to Serfdom, Hayek noticed the many students who went to Europe (especially to France and Germany) to study in the 1920s and 30s: “Many a university teacher during the 1930’s has seen English and American students return from the Continent uncertain whether they were communists or Nazis and certain only that they […]

Animation excerpt: “Nietzsche: God Is Dead, Sheep and Wolves, Masters and Slaves” in 3 Parts — Sprouts Schools

Trailer here: “Many of you repeatedly asked us to cover Nietzsche’s thought-provoking ideas. We very lucky to have collaborated on this project with Professor Stephen Hicks — a Canadian-American philosopher, who published several texts on Nietzsche, including the book Nietzsche and the Nazis. The full description with video links here.

The awesome Congo River

A brief description of the Congo River: “From the western rim of this plateau, nearly a thousand feet high, the river descends to sea level in a mere 220 miles. During this tumultuous descent, the river squeezes through narrow canyons, boils up in waves 40 feet high, and tumbles over 32 separate cataracts. So great […]

Studio audience invitation for *Philosophy of Politics* [new Peterson Academy course]

Live Audience Application, Miami, Florida, August 2024. Professor Hicks, renowned philosopher, will be teaching a two-part course on political philosophy, outlining the key thinkers and ideas that have shaped our politics: August 21-23: Philosophy of Politics: From the French Revolution to WW II August 26-28: Philosophy of Politics: From the Cold War to After 9-11 […]

The Lizzie Borden double-murder case

For years I’ve used the Borden case in my Critical Thinking course. The case became part of American folklore, generating anonymous ditties like this: Lizzie Borden took an axAnd gave her mother forty whacks,And when she saw what she had done,She gave her father forty-one. Yet she was found Not Guilty at trial. Why? I […]

Syllabus for my Postmodern Philosophy course [Peterson Academy]

Postmodern Philosophy A course by Stephen R.C. Hicks, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy Eight lectures. Key philosophers and philosophies since 1900 CE, with focus on the proponents and opponents of Postmodernism. Major thinkers covered: Bertrand Russell, John Dewey, Sigmund Freud, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Ayn Rand, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, […]

On the dangers of exploration — medieval version

Reprising this on why some cultures become great explorers and others stay home: the role of metaphysics. “And as for trying to sail down the west African coast, everyone knew that as soon as you passed the Canary Islands you would be in the Mare Tenebroso, the Sea of Darkness: ‘In the medieval imagination [writes […]

20th Anniversary of *Explaining Postmodernism*

It was twenty years ago this month that EP came out. Full title: Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. The book is an intellectual history of the roots of postmodernism. One-sentence thesis: The failure of epistemology made postmodernism possible; the failure of socialism made postmodernism necessary. I’m pleased that the book has […]