Stephen R.C. Hicks's Blog, page 9

Cynical humor: reactionary university reform

On the COVID lockdowns—and costs to civil liberties, economic prosperity, psychological health [Interview excerpt]

From a 2020 interview: Jennifer Grossman [40:19]: A question from Phil [C.] on the lockdowns and the proposition that more lives and futures are going to be destroyed by the mandatory lockdowns and closings of businesses than could or will be by the virus itself? I know you’re not an epidemiologist, but you’re probably looking […]

Open College with Dr. Stephen R.C. Hicks | EP #55 | Jordan Peterson’s Religion [In Case You Missed It]

For more Open College Podcasts: YouTube. Also Jordan Peterson’s second interview of Stephen Hicks:

Objectivism and Education: Rand and Montessori [Lecture 12 of Philosophy of Education course]

By Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks, Rockford University, USA. Lecture 12: How do Objectivist philosophy and Ayn Rand’s thinking in particular apply to education, and how consistent is it with Maria Montessori’s principles and methods? Previous lectures in the series: Part One: Introduction: What is the purpose of education, and what is philosophy’s relevance? Part Two: […]

PREDATION & POWER: NIETZSCHE. Lecture 6 of Philosophy of Ethics course [Peterson Academy]

“Power gives the first right, and there is no right, which at bottom is not presumption, usurpation, violence.” Lecture Six: Predation and Power Themes: Gyges. Original Sin? Master and slave moralities. Slavery as natural and necessary? A new aristocracy. Texts: Nietzsche, “The Greek State,” Beyond Good and Evil, and The Will to Power About the […]

Heidegger: “Why is there Being and not rather Nothing?”

Source: Heidegger, Martin. “What Is Metaphysics?” [1929]. Related: On the fuller context of Heidegger’s provocative question: Related: On Heidegger’s place in the historical course of philosophy: Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (print or e-book), or audiobook:

The two contradictory Black Lives Matters movements [interview excerpt]

From a 2020 interview: Jennifer Grossman [19:15]: Black Lives Matter. What’s your perspective? Stephen Hicks: The movement, the phrase? Jennifer Grossman: Well, I guess you could do both? The movement, I don’t think it’s a corporation, is just the insistence that there is structural and institutional racism, particularly with regards to police brutality, what are what […]

Descartes’ reaction to Galileo’s conviction

The philosopher René Descartes in 1633: “I inquired in Leiden and Amsterdam whether Galileo’s World System was available, for I thought I’d heard that it was published in Italy last year. I was told that it had indeed been published but that all the copies had immediately been burnt at Rome, and that Galileo had […]

Existentialism and Education: Camus, Sartre [Lecture 11 of Philosophy of Education course]

15-lecture series by Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks, Rockford University, USA Lecture 11: What did the major Existentialist thinkers—Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre in particular—believe and how they apply it to education? How are “Existence precedes essence” and “The Myth of Sisyphus” relevant to deciding our purposes in life? Previous lectures in the series: Part One: […]

THE GREATEST HAPPINESS FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER: MILL. Lecture 5 of Philosophy of Ethics course [Peterson Academy]

“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.“ Lecture Five: The Greatest Happiness for the Greatest Number Themes: Hedonism. Epicurus. Utility. Bentham. Individual or collective? The problem of Casanova, de Sade, Sacher-Masoch. Text: Mill, Utilitarianism About the Instructor Stephen R. C. […]