Stephen R.C. Hicks's Blog, page 52

Foucault on Sex and Power

Michel Foucault is the most famous postmodernist, and In his History of Sexuality he asks, among other questions:* Are we less sexually repressed than the Victorians?* Is casual pedophilia really such a big deal?* Is sexual liberation actual, or simply a new strategy of capitalist power? In the Philosophers, Explained series:

Eccentrics

Related: Mill’s powerful advocacy of free thought and free speech:

The Fountainhead’s Gordon Prescott—Heidegger’s disciple?

Re-reading The Fountainhead made me wonder: Is the character Gordon Prescott based on Martin Heidegger's philosophy?

What are the most important works in 20th century philosophy?

Here’s a list based on philosopher Douglas Lackey’s 1999 survey of philosophers. The results were published in The Philosophical Forum. Interesting that the full list is dominated by works in epistemology. Metaphysics and ethics are less represented by a significant margin. The top ten books cited:1. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations [179 citations]2. Heidegger, Being and Time […]

Is architecture the best art form?

In the Renaissance, there was a lively debate among artists and critics over which art form was the best. Cases were made for and against painting, sculpture, poetry, and music. To my mind, the debate is silly philosophically, but it is a fun and instructive exercise to compare the strengths and limitations of each art […]

Diego Velazquez | “Las Meninas” (1656) [Newberry on Great Art series]

An Artist’s View: Michael Newberry on Key Works of Art in History Michael Newberry is an avant-garde figurative painter, writer, and teacher promoting evolutionary flourishing through his work. He does this through advances in color theory, body language, symbolism, and composition. Michael is the author of two books released in 2021: Evolution Through Art and Newberry […]

“Wean Yourself,” Rumi

(Reprising this translation by Coleman Barks) Little by little, wean yourself.This is the gist of what I have to say.From an embryo, whose nourishment comes in the blood,move to an infant drinking milk,to a child on solid food,to a searcher after wisdom,to a hunter of more invisible game. Think how it is to have a […]

The scientific mind, according to Aristotle

One of my all-time favorite passages from Aristotle is in his Parts of Animals (Book 1, Chapter 5).

Heidegger’s dark politics and philosophy: book recommendations

In the below documentary, a number of Heidegger scholars discuss his philosophy and its relationship to his National Socialism. For follow-up scholarship on the philosophy-politics connections: Faye (https://www.amazon.com/Heidegger-Intr...) and Philipse (https://www.amazon.com/Heideggers-Phi...) are very good, in my judgment. Related: Heidegger on metaphysics, in the Philosophers, Explained series.

Clarence Thomas vs. Derrick Bell [Black History Month]

Trailer for this documentary on the amazing trajectory of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas’s life and career: Philosopher of law Derrick Bell was fundamentally and absolutely opposed to Thomas philosophically and politically, as expressed in this now-classic law review article published at the time: