Stephen R.C. Hicks's Blog, page 4

CRITICAL THEORY and REPRESSIVE TOLERANCE. Herbert MARCUSE. Lecture 4 of *The Philosophy of Politics: From the Cold War to After 9/11*

Marcuse: “What is proclaimed and practiced as tolerance today, is in many of its most effective manifestations serving the cause of oppression.“ About the Course In this eight-lecture course, Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks takes us on a journey through the evolution of modern political philosophies from the tensions of Cold War to the turbulent post-9/11 […]

Against Reparations for Slavery [interview excerpt]

From a 2020 interview: Jennifer Grossman  [47:15]:  What is your perspective, Professor Hicks, on reparations, a claim that current society must repay current racial minorities for wrongs done in the past? Stephen Hicks: My view is: Absolutely not. Reparations comes out of a kind of tradition of justice. Justice is absolutely important. If an individual wrongs […]

Banish printing presses and tear down the theaters — Rousseau

The influential Jean-Jacques Rousseau was anti-Enlightenment, advocating censorship, collectivism, and the death penalty for non-believers. For an elaboration, check out this 4-minute clip from my discussion with James Lindsay and Michael O’Fallon: The full 1.5-hour video is here: Related: Stephen R.C. Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Expanded Edition).

Professor Gary Jason’s review of *Explaining Postmodernism*

"Stephen Hicks, a professor of philosophy at Rockford College, has produced a clearly written, concise book explaining just what postmodern philosophy is and how it arose, and he has done so in an admirable way."

Nvidia CEO Huang on how failure leads to success

Jensen Huang (Nvidia CEO) on why innovation first takes failure. “Unless you have a tolerance for failure, you will never experiment. If you don’t experiment you won’t innovate, and if you don’t innovate you won’t succeed.” So a key question for educators: How do we teach successful failing? Especially since kids often learn to fear […]

NATIONAL SOCIALISM. Martin HEIDEGGER. Lecture 7 of *The Philosophy of Politics: From the French Revolution to World War II*

Heidegger: “Russia and America, seen metaphysically, are both the same: the same hopeless frenzy of unchained technology and of the rootless organization of the average man.“ And: “German Socialism wants an order of merit based on inner confirmation and achievement: it wants the inviolability of service and the absolute honor of all labor. That is […]

1927 interview with Sergei Rachmaninoff

Rachmaninov Is Reminiscent An interview with Rachmaninoff By Basanta Koomar Roy Published in The Musical Observer, May 1927 [Transcription] Among composers, Rachmaninov looms large. While it seldom transpires that one gains equal distinction as a composer, and a pianist, yet this may be said of Rachmaninov. In the course of the next hundred years or […]

Nietzsche: “The whole great tendency of the Germans ran counter to the Enlightenment.”

Friedrich Nietzsche on the philosophical legacy from Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer: “The whole great tendency of the Germans ran counter to the Enlightenment.” Source: Friedrich Nietzsche, Daybreak [1881], Section 197. Related: The context of Nietzsche’s provocative claim: Related: On Nietzsche’s place in the historical course of philosophy: Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault […]

Frederick Douglass’s 1848 Letter to His Former Master [excerpt]

From Douglass’s 1848 open letter to Thomas Auld, his former master, on the tenth anniversary of his escape from slavery to freedom, which he accomplished on September 3, 1838. Sir: … When yet but a child about six years old, I imbibed the determination to run away. The very first mental effort that I now […]

Good advice for young seekers who don’t yet know what they’re seeking

Attributed to Paul Graham (via Philip HM Oliver). Related: How Great Artists became Great.