The connections between philosophy theory and political practice are often long-term. Here are three juxtapositions of quotations from philosopher Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and philosopher Gentile and politician Mussolini in the 1930s. On what’s good for the species versus what’s good for the individual: Kant,: “For all of that, this path that for the […]
3 paired Kant and Mussolini quotes on individuals, reason, war Read More »
This week of the self-paced course on Objectivity features Stephen Hicks’s primer on Objective Journalism. “Objectivity means being committed to the facts and to using one’s mind as best one can to discover and interpret them. Journalistic objectivity includes being open to all the facts, doing research to discover the facts, verifying claims, and to integrating logically
Stephen Hicks, “A Primer on Objective Journalism” [Atlas Intellectuals] Read More »
In this unit of the Atlas Intellectuals course on Objectivity we feature our means to understand reality, Reason. View the video short, Draw My Life: Reason. What is your most important device? It’s not made of silicon, it’s not your smartphone or your laptop. It’s made of neurons and lies between your ears — your
Draw My Life: Reason [Atlas Intellectuals] Read More »
[This is the opening column of the Theist vs. Atheist debate series between Stephen Hicks and John C. Wright. Read Wright’s opening column here. Here are the links to other columns in the series.] My answer is: Absolutely, yes, religion is worth arguing about. We have all heard that in polite company we should not discuss sex,
Is Religion Worth Arguing About? [Theist vs. Atheist series] Read More »
[This is Section 41 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 41. Principled anti-Nazism Philosophically and politically, the Nazis stood for five major principles: They stood for collectivism, for instinct and passion, for war and conflict, for authoritarianism, and for socialism. National Socialist Principles: Collectivism Instinct, passion, “blood” War and zero-sum conflict Authoritarianism Socialism That means we
Principled anti-Nazism [Section 41 of Nietzsche and the Nazis] Read More »
[This is Section 36 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 36. Instinct, passion, and anti-reason Hitler was fond of saying, in private, “What luck that men do not think.” Another significant point of agreement exists between Nietzsche and the Nazis: Both agree that the great conflicts will not be solved rationally, through the processes of discussion,
Instinct, passion, and anti-reason Read More »
Intellectual systems and movements are defined philosophically by means of their characteristic claims in the five major branches of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, human nature, ethics, and politics. As historical movements, they are defined by the time of their formulation and most vigorous activity. So in the following table I offer a definitions of pre-modernism and
Defining modernism and pre-modernism Read More »
I am organizing a session for the Association for Private Enterprise Education conference to be held April 11-13, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The theme is “Reason in Hayek and Rand.” Here we have two giants of twentieth-century thought, but few comparative studies have been done. So as a start I have chosen Reason as
Hayek and Rand on reason Read More »