Stephen Hicks

Collective guilt — China’s social-credit scheme and other examples

2 Comments / Philosophy /

“Chinese university suspends student because of dad’s bad social-credit score.” This collectivizing-of-guilt example reminds me of the commencement ceremony at my university a few years ago, at which Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former president George Bush, gave an apolitical speech about her non-profit work. Several of our faculty members sat in stony-frowny-face, arms-crossed silence […]

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Frightened Children Won’t Solve the World’s Problems

6 Comments / Education /

Bjorn Lomborg’s diagnosis: “Decades of climate-change exaggeration in the West have produced frightened children, febrile headlines, and unrealistic political promises. The world needs a cooler approach that addresses climate change smartly without scaring us needlessly and that pays heed to the many other challenges facing the planet.” Decades indeed. Ten years ago: “One in Three

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Ayn Rand and Business Ethics — new booklet edition

Leave a Comment / Ethics, Human Nature, Objectivism /

I’m happy to announce a new edition of my “Ayn Rand and Business Ethics” has been published. Thanks to the team at The Atlas Society for producing it. The essay was originally published in The Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy and has since been translated into Korean, German, Serbo-Croatian, and Portuguese. Abstract: Most

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Como os pós-modernistas treinam—e não educam—ativistas [Portuguese translation]

1 Comment / Philosophy /

[Por Stephen R. C. Hicks. A translation by Matheus Pacini of “Why Postmoderns Train—Not Educate—Activists,” James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, March 2019.] Por que doutrinar crianças faz sentido para os pós-modernistas? A maioria de nós foi vítima de doutrinadores ao longo de sua formação acadêmica. Um doutrinador pensa dessa forma: existe apenas uma

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¿Por Qué Los Posmodernos Entrenan—No Educan—Activistas? [Spanish translation]

Leave a Comment / Education, Español, Philosophy /

[Por Stephen R. C. Hicks. A translation by Fermin Elizalde of “Why Postmoderns Train—Not Educate—Activists,” James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, March 2019.] He aquí por qué adoctrinar a los niños tiene mucho sentido para los posmodernistas. La mayoría de nosotros encontramos adoctrinadores pasados de moda en nuestra educación. Los adoctrinadores piensan de esta

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Is German philosophy really Counter-Enlightenment? Nietzsche’s assessment

Leave a Comment / History of Philosophy /

My Explaining Postmodernism book is negative on the major developments in German philosophy, tracing a devolution from Kant through Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Heidegger to the postmodernists. Lots of room in that story for nuances and exceptions, and I’ve received much criticism for being harsh on the German thinkers. I have two forthcoming Open College

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