The full series of my Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks is available at this dedicated page. Free Speech: Why the Philosophy Matters Violent Politics — The Lesson of Marxist Philosophy “The Dim Ruins of the Enlightenment” Conservatives: Get Over the Dark Ages Nietzsche’s Sister and The Will to Power Your Sex Life Under Socialism […]
Open College — all episodes so far Read More »
Love Is a Fallacy By Max Shulman Max Shulman (1919–1988) was an American humorist. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1942 and served in the military in World War II. His writing career included several collections of short stories and a Broadway play, “The Tender Trap,” which was later made into a movie.
Love Is a Fallacy (by Max Shulman) Read More »
Andrea-Dworkinism is alive in 2019. One of her followers, writing in The Guardian, makes this huge claim: “We are living in terrible times for women.” It’s true that bad things happen to women. Yet bad things happen to people pretty much however you group them, and this claim is a general indictment of the whole
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Hollywood screenwriter Anna Louise Strong was basically a Communist propagandist. When in 1956 Khrushchev “revealed” Stalin’s crimes, Strong suffered a mental breakdown over the “betrayal.” Later she confessed: “We knew all these things for twenty-five years, and I kept silent for the cause of socialism. What am I supposed to say?” (Which I connect to
On honesty, Stalin’s killings, and Western intellectuals (anecdote) Read More »
Most movements consistently exhibit a destructive social psychology. The dynamic is this: a movement’s members begin with a huge amount in common — the same high talent, goals, and passions. But any difference, sometimes minor, sets them against each other ferociously and irreparably. The dynamic crops up in many movements across history — political (e.g.,
Movement splits and hatreds — a music example Read More »
Capitalism versus the Philosophers: An Interview with Stephen Hicks was published at The Foundation for Economic Education. Grégoire Canlorbe, a French intellectual entrepreneur residing in Paris conducted the interview. An excerpt follows. Grégoire Canlorbe: According to a popular opinion, left to its own devices, capitalism inevitably tends to a monopoly economy — an economy in
Does capitalism lead to a monopoly economy? Read More »
2018 Brazil fire at Rio museum. The museum is owned by the government. That government overspends on “important” things but defers maintenance on less important things. “Sorry, we didn’t have money for a sprinkler system. Not our fault.” 2019 French fire at Paris cathedral. The cathedral is owned by the government. That government overspends on
When museums and cathedrals burn Read More »
From Klaus Christian Köhnke’s The Rise of Neo-Kantianism (Cambridge, 1991): “In the 1870s Kant became the most frequently read of the classics in Germany’s universities” (p. 8) That decade marked the decline of Hegelianism and triumph of neo-Kantianism: “Immediately after the Franco-Prussian war [1870-71] things moved forward rapidly and neo-Kantianism as a whole rose rapidly in the
Köhnke on the rise of Kant after 1870 Read More »