Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.

Fundraising campaign for 2012

Readers of this site know that in addition to my philosophy professorship I am the Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship. We have launched a fundraising campaign for our 2012 activities.

We are proud of what we have accomplished in our first four academic years — new courses on entrepreneurship, business ethics, and free markets, 19 issues of our Kaizen newsletter with its extended interviews with leading entrepreneurs, and our Templeton Freedom Award for excellent program development.

So please see CEE’s Annual Report and consider supporting the Center’s continued activities.

Our hardworking staff and I have more in the works, but good education is expensive, and we would be pleased to have your support.

Essay contest flyers for Spring 2011

The Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship is sponsoring an essay contest for Rockford College students enrolled this semester in Introduction to Philosophy (PHIL 103) and Business and Economic Ethics (PHIL 325).

Here are links are to the contest flyers:

Introduction to Philosophy topic: What is independence, and is it a good thing? [pdf]

Business and Economic Ethics topic: “What essential character traits and business skills lead individuals and organizations to succeed?” Reflections on Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time, Atlas Shrugged, and Kaizen interviews with successful entrepreneurs [pdf]

The winners will receive cash prizes and be featured in upcoming issues of Kaizen.

Fall 2011 philosophy courses

Here’s the line up of courses being offered by the Department of Philosophy, Rockford College, for the Fall 2011 semester. Click the image to see the flyer with the full listing.

My colleagues Matt Flamm and Shawn Klein and I will be offering a total of eight different courses.

The flyer was designed by Chris Vaughan.

“Morality without God?” discussion

Two student groups at Rockford College are producing a discussing of a perennially important topic:

Morality without God?

* Is life purposeless or meaningless without belief in a particular God or religion?
* Without God, does that mean “anything goes”?
* Does belief in a particular God or religion incline one to morality? Does it matter which religion or God?

Campus Intervarsity and the Secular Student Alliance are the co-sponsoring groups. In the symposium, they will present different perspectives on this question.

Time: Tuesday, November 30th, 4-5:30 p.m.
Place: Peterson Auditorium, Starr Science Building, Rockford College

The event is free and open to the public.

Talk for Entrepreneurship Week in Paducah, Kentucky

I’ll be making a trip to Kentucky, the beautiful neighboring state across the Ohio River, to give a talk on “Ethical Entrepreneurship - How to Make Tough Decisions in a Tough World.”

My talk is sponsored by Entre Paducah as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010.

Time: Monday, November 18, 7 a.m.
Place: Carson Center (Ingram Room), 100 Kentucky Avenue, Paducah, KY 42003
Details here.

Philosophy courses for the Spring 2011 semester

Here is the line-up of the ten different courses [pdf], including those of my Rockford College Philosophy Department colleagues, Matt Flamm and Shawn Klein, and a cross-listed course by Professor Krazek of the French Department.

Worth special mention is a new course from Professor Klein on Symbolic Logic [pdf].

Kindle edition of Nietzsche and the Nazis

The Kindle edition of my Nietzsche and the Nazis is now available. My first ever Kindle publication. Very cool.

The hardcover will be released mid-August.

Here also is a copy of the brochure for the book [pdf], which includes the Table of Contents and more information about availability of the book and documentary.

Keynote lecture in Argentina

I will be giving a keynote lecture in Argentina at the invitation of the Bases Foundation and the School of Economics of the Catholic University in Rosario. The event is the Third International Conference on “The Austrian School of Economics in the 21st Century,” which will be held August 5-7, 2010.

The title of my lecture is: “Austrians, Objectivists, and the Unrequited Love of Philosophy for Economics.” Here is the abstract:

The Austrian school of economics and the Objectivist school of philosophy have both been essential to the liberal/libertarian movement. Mises and Hayek did much work in political economy and explored relevant philosophical issues in metaphysics, epistemology, and values. Rand did much work in philosophy, which she then applied in fictional portrayals of mixed political economies in decline. Yet while there is mutual respect between Austrianism and Objectivism, there are also points of tension. My purpose in this talk is to discuss the key commonalities and differences. Much specialized work in economics and philosophy must be done, so there is a natural and important division of labor. But that work must also be coordinated in making a full and compelling case for the free society.

Thanks for the invitation to Federico Fernandez, the Bases Foundation, and the School of Economics at Catholic University of Rosario.

The Bases Foundation takes its inspiration from Juan Bautista Alberdi, one of the great nineteenth-century Argentine Enlightenment liberal political theorists.