In the history of ethics, debates over the meaning of life have generated four broad positions: 1. The meaning of life is to flourish by creating value both materially and psychologically through one’s career, friendships, loves, and avocations. Examples here include Aristotelian eudaimonism, some sub-types of utilitarianism, and Objectivism.The good life should be a win […]
Genghis Khan on joy and the meaning of life Read More »
Some fascinating glimpses of Franz Liszt, the virtuoso pianist and composer. Biographer Alan Walker writes:
More on how great artists become great: Liszt Read More »
Plato was an advocate of censorship of all the arts. But he did allow for some exceptions, so the cartoon above need not be only about ego-boosting hypocrisy. Here’s my summary of Plato’s arguments for censorship, as presented in The Republic. (Image source: An early edition of Douglas Palmer’s fun Does the Center Hold? An
Plato and art that is more noble Read More »
The Laws is Plato’s last book. Its dialogue is set in Crete and led by an Athenian who is never identified. He converses with a citizen from Sparta and a politician from Crete. The politician has been given the authority to create laws for a new colony, so he asks the Athenian for advice, and
Plato on games and educating for rule-following Read More »
Following up on “The constant decline of civilization?” — a series of quotations from across the centuries of intellectuals from Plato to Wordsworth to T.S. Eliot bemoaning the sorry state of their generation’s intellectual and moral life. Here, from a review of Mark Lilla’s The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics and Richard Wolin’s Heidegger’s Children:
Are we declining from our decline? Read More »
Who are the great philosophers, and what makes them great? Was Socrates disrespectful of the gods and corrupting the young men around him? And if so, did he deserve the death penalty? Episodes: The full playlist. Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, USA, and has had visiting positions at
Apology of Socrates | Plato | *Philosophers, Explained* by Professor Stephen Hicks Read More »
At the beginning of Crito, Socrates is in prison awaiting execution, having been found guilty of impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. His good friend Crito arrives, having worked out an escape opportunity for Socrates. Crito rushes through a few reasons why Socrates should escape immediately. Socrates then suggests that the issue is more
In class: Reason, according to Socrates Read More »
Who are the great philosophers, and what makes them great? Episodes: The full playlist. Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, USA, and has had visiting positions at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the University of Kasimir the Great in Poland, Oxford University’s Harris Manchester College in England, and Jagiellonian
Allegory of the Cave | The Republic | Plato | Philosophers, Explained by Stephen Hicks Read More »