Stephen R.C. Hicks's Blog, page 8

Does ‘freedom first’ lead to tyranny? James Orr (Cambridge Univ.) debates Stephen Hicks (Rockford Univ.)

Professor James Orr: “a society that prizes freedom above all else is a society that will, in time, descend into tyranny.” That is from Dr. Orr’s second essay, “A Conservative Critique of Liberalism,” in this Reason Papers three-round debate with Dr. Stephen Hicks. Orr advocates and defends Conservatism; Hicks does the same for Liberalism. Links […]

Announcement: New courses forthcoming

Next month, I’ll be recording two new courses for Peterson Academy in their Arizona studio. Details forthcoming. Meanwhile, I was pleased to receive from the team this screen capture from the Academy’s discussion forum on my Modern Philosophy course. Thank you for the praise, Salvatore and Allan! More information about my other courses at PA—Modern […]

Capitalism and Anti-Racism [interview excerpt]

From a 2020 interview: Jennifer Grossman [11:59]: What is your perspective from now, particularly looking at it through historical time when we could point to … slavery, things like that, it would seem to me that it’s improved. The other question is: Is capitalism an institution and as an institution (if it is an institution) is […]

“Post-postmodern Art”: slide show and reprint

Chris Vaughan created a self-guided PowerPoint slide-show version of my short essay on modern and postmodern art: “Post-postmodern Art” slide show [downloadable PowerPoint]. Also here is a PDF version of the text with the relevant, illustrative images. Related: My more-fully developed talk at ESEADE University, Buenos Aires, Argentina:

Poland’s president-elect Karol Nawrocki (and his interview of me in Gdańsk)

Poland’s new president is historian Karol Nawrocki, who was director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk and head of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw. Dr. Nawrocki did this interview with me (in English with Polish translation) on the ideas behind the rise of totalitarian movements such as National Socialism. […]

Is conservatism a “middle course” between collectivism and self-elevation? James Orr (Cambridge Univ.) debates Stephen Hicks (Rockford Univ.)

Professor James Orr: “only conservatism charts the middle course between ideologies that elevate the self over the collective and ones that swallow up the self in the collective.” That is from Dr. Orr’s opening essay in this Reason Papers three-round debate with Dr. Stephen Hicks. Orr advocates and defends Conservatism; Hicks does the same for […]

On religious truth [Blackburn anecdote]

The philosopher Simon Blackburn tells an anecdote about a forum at which representatives of the major religions spoke. “First the Buddhist talked of the ways to calm, the mastery of desire, the path of enlightenment. The panellists all said ‘Wow, terrific, if that works for you that’s great.’ Then the Hindu talked of the cycles […]

The Pakistani intellectual scene — and *Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault*

A Pakistani intellectual, Khurshid Ali Singay, in correspondence with me wrote about the situation there: “I can assure you again that in this side of the world, being an intellectual—secular or religious—means reading Marx or some Postmodernist thinkers. Marx is the hero both for the commoners and the literate. British philosophers, Empiricism and Liberalism are either taken […]

*Explaining Postmodernism* and the Pakistani intellectual scene

A Pakistani intellectual, Khurshid Ali Singay, in correspondence with me wrote about the situation there: “I can assure you again that in this side of the world, being an intellectual—secular or religious—means reading Marx or some Postmodernist thinkers. Marx is the hero both for the commoners and the literate. British philosophers, Empiricism and Liberalism are either taken […]

Heidegger’s “Reunion Speech” of 1934

[Courtesy of the translator, W. H. F. Altman, here is the text of Martin Heidegger’s speech, delivered on the occasion of a 25th anniversary reunion in Konstanz, May 26-27, 1934.] Martin Heidegger, The Reunion Speech Twenty-five Years after Our Graduation, Reunion in Konstanz on May 26-27, 1934 Dear classmates! Our reunion—after twenty-five years and more—might […]