Dr. Stephen R.C. Hicks is a Canadian-American philosopher who teaches at Rockford University, Illinois. He has had visiting positions at Oxford University (England), Kasimir the Great University (Poland), and has lectured at universities across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He specializes in modern European philosophy and politics, and has written extensively on Kant, Marx, including his two books, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault and Nietzsche and the Nazis.
About Prof. Stephen Hicks, host of Open College:
Stephen R. Hicks is a tenured Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University in Illinois, U.S.A., and prolific author of philosophical criticism, chief among them his 2004 work, ‘Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault.’
‘Explaining Postmodernism,’ has earned Hicks some of his highest acclaim received thus far in his career, and has received praise from such prestigious figures as Prof. Jordan Peterson, who recommended ‘Explaining Postmodernism’ to anyone wanting to learn about the school of thought.
Hicks’ other works include ‘The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis,’ ‘Entrepreneurial Living,’ ‘Liberalism Pro and Con,’ and ‘Nietzsche and the Nazis,’ for which book he also received noteworthy acclaim. Also Forthcoming in 2021, ‘Eight Philosophies of Education,’ was co authored by Hicks.
On top of his work as an educator & author, Hicks is the Executive Director at the Center for Ethic and Entrepreneurship, and is a scholar with the Atlas Society.
Hicks began his ‘Open College’ podcast with The Possibly Correct Podcast Network in early 2018 to discuss and debate philosophical matters, economics and to discuss postmodernism and the impacts of that school of thought on contemporary society.
While Hicks sees postmodernism as a mostly expired ideology, he has become perturbed as he sees the ideology becoming more prominent in society in the last half-decade especially.
We have all heard that in polite company we should not discuss sex, politics, business, or religion. Those topics are too troublesome, so we should stick to safer topics?
To be human is to grapple with the big questions and the crucial values of life. We must decide and we all need to make up our minds what our lives will be about.
Who are the most important socialist intellectuals and politicians in history? We here offer quotations from eight prominent socialists, representing a wide geographical and temporal range. The quotations illustrate the author’s motivation for advocating socialism, the actions necessary to bring about socialism, and/or the expected results of socialism. What common characteristics best define socialism?
Where are young socialists in their thinking? What expressions of socialism are meeting their mark rhetorically? What does socialism mean to them and what values do they think socialism is advocating?
A generation ago the slogan of campus activist was, speak truth to power. Why has there been such a dramatic change in just one generation?
On December 30th 2019, the YouTube channel Prager University released a video narrated by bible scholar and political theorist Yoram Hazony discussing the Enlightenment. Hazony makes eight major claims about the Enlightenment and while there are some thoughtful arguments against the Enlightenment, Hazony has not made them. In this episode of Open College, Dr. Hicks points out the flaws in Hazony’s augments and shows why this video is an example of special-pleading history.
We all know the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge. Or do we? At least 20 movie versions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol have been produced, along with innumerable stage plays and live reading. Who was Ebenezer Scrooge? Was his character the Villain according to Socialism, the Homo Economicus and Savvy Investor, the hero of the Anti-Over-Commercialized-Christmas crowd?
William James was a leading American philosopher who lived at the turn of the 20th century. In his essay the Moral Equivalent of War, James describes himself as a socialist and pacifist and is very disgusted with the human history of war and is looking for a solution. This essay, while thoughtful and well argued is to my mind, highly objectionable. Here is why.
Is Keynes to blame for everything? John Maynard Keynes was the most influential economist of the 20th century. In the 21st century his theories are institutionalized. But how close is current Keyesnian practice to original Keynesian theory?
Money is one of the greatest inventions ever, just as books are one of the greatest inventions ever and for the same reasons. Books are collections of abstract symbols that represent abstract ideas. Writing enhances our thinking through portability, storage, precision and universality. Books enable everyone to communicate with one another. All of these points about books hold precisely for money.
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