From the Department of Collegial Zingers, here is W. K. Clifford on an intellectual acquaintance:
“He is writing a book on metaphysics, and is really cut out for it; the clearness with which he thinks he understands things and his total inability to express what little he knows will make his fortune as a philosopher.”
(Quoted in Brand Blanshard’s On Philosophical Style, Manchester University Press, 1954, p. 28; a more recent edition is here).
Mathematician Clifford (1845-1879) was also the author of the important “The Ethics of Belief,” in which he argues that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.”
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago at 8:28 am. Add a comment
Why Existentialists hold that both traditional religion and science are dehumanizing. This is from Part 11 of Stephen Hicks’s Philosophy of Education course.
Stephen Hicks introduces the philosophy of Existentialism by means of Friedrich Nietzsche’s claim that God is dead, reflection on the rise of science and the decline of religion in the modern world, and the early-twentieth-century lived experience of world war, Depression, and the Holocaust. This is from Part 11 of his Philosophy of Education course.
The modern West is hybrid civilization, drawing upon competing ethical traditions from Greco-Roman culture and Judeo-Christian religion. Professor Hicks illustrates the contrast by means of a thought-experiment survey about the Declaration of Independence and Priests’ Vows. This is from Part 5 of his Philosophy of Education course.
Stephen Hicks here contrasts Semmelweis and Abraham as cognitive and moral role models. This is from Part 3 of Professor Hicks’s Philosophy of Education course.
My “Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand” has come out in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. Here is the abstract for my 43-page study:
“Philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand are often identified as strong critics of altruism and arch advocates of egoism. In this essay, Stephen Hicks argues that Nietzsche and Rand have much in common in their critiques of altruism but almost nothing in common in their views on egoism.”
In the same issue, Professor Lester Hunt has a commentary on my essay and an independent reading of Nietzsche that is very valuable.
This entire issue of JARS is a symposium devoted to essays comparing Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand. I haven’t read the other contributions yet, but it looks like a lively set.
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago at 1:24 pm. Add a comment
“He is writing a book on metaphysics, and is really cut out for it; the clearness with which he thinks he understands things and his total inability to express what little he knows will make his fortune as a philosopher.” 
Stephen Hicks discusses Marx’s claim that religion is the opium of the masses. This is from Part 13 of his 
