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EP #31 | Hazony Attacks the Enlightenment

January 16, 2020 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on EP #31 | Hazony Attacks the Enlightenment

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.

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Episode 09 | David versus Goliath

December 29, 2019 Neil MS Untrue Crime Podcast Comments Off on Episode 09 | David versus Goliath

I’ve been talking about comedian and talk show host Mike Bullard, who had stalking charges against him thrown out of court but never got his vindication after two years of legal hell. And this is where his current defamation suit may make a difference.

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EP #30 | The Real Scrooge

December 21, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on EP #30 | The Real Scrooge

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?

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#29 War on Socialism

November 5, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on #29 War on Socialism

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.

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EP #28 | Keynes Blame

October 22, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on EP #28 | Keynes Blame

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?

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#27 Money You Should Love

October 9, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on #27 Money You Should Love

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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#26 Manifest Destiny Wasn’t

September 24, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on #26 Manifest Destiny Wasn’t
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#25 Thales’ Revolution

September 10, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on #25 Thales’ Revolution

The standard claim is that philosophy begins with Thales. Why did philosophy come into being in a clusters of cities on the coasts of Asia minor? Ascribed to Thales by Aristotle: “The first principle and basic nature of all things is water, ”and “All things are full of gods.” Why do historians of philosophy get worked up over these lines?
To see their significance, let’s set a context by going back to the worldview of the awesomely great Homer. So brush up on The Iliad, which I want to use as our pre-philosophy-worldview contrast object.

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#24 Does Power Corrupt?

August 26, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on #24 Does Power Corrupt?

Lord Acton said, “absolute power corrupts absolutely” but is this accurate? Abuses of social and political power are the ones we worry about the most. Social science data does seem too, on the surface, bare out Lord Acton’s claims. However, if you correlate the degrees of corruption with degrees of centralization the data suggests things are not quite so simple.

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EP #23 – Is Postmodernism Neo-Marxist? Yes, No & Sort Of.

July 30, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on EP #23 – Is Postmodernism Neo-Marxist? Yes, No & Sort Of.

Professor Jordan B. Peterson is perhaps most famous for the neo-Marxist label “Postmodern Neo-Marxism.” Although Dr. Peterson recommends Explaining Postmodernism by Dr. Hicks, their analysis on this issue differs in some important ways.

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