One of my professors in graduate school argued that St. Augustine is the most influential philosopher in history. I’m not convinced, though a good case can be made. I recently re-opened Confessions and came across Augustine’s strong version of original sin. As he exclaims to his God, “no one is free from sin in your
St. Augustine on why babies are evil Read More »
Reprising this series of … errr … insights from my students, collected from exams and essays over the years. I offer you: A Student History of Philosophy (Being a compilation of student research, gently edited by Stephen R.C. Hicks, Rockford University) Is philosophy a waist of time? Ethical debates have been around for a long
Still learning from my students about the history of philosophy Read More »
Reviving this contest for readers: What is the longest sentence ever written by a philosopher? I mean the kind of sentence that, as you are reading it through — trying to hold the context and decipher the meaning — flows majestically onwards, or meanders along deceptively, with occasional side streams (and parenthetical remarks), until your cerebrum
Current champion in Philosophy’s Longest Sentences contest — Kierkegaard Read More »
The Enlightenment of the long 18th century was an era of awesome intellectual and cultural transformation. My Enlightenment Vision flowchart [pdf] is pitched at a high level of abstraction, showing schematically how the philosophical revolution of the 17th century led to the 18th-century revolutions in science, technology, politics, and economics — which in turn led
The Enlightenment Vision — Flowchart Read More »
In a letter to Karl Popper dated October 21, 1964, Friedrich Hayek proposed that they name their philosophy “Negativism.”[1] Hayek’s philosophy of economics holds that the limits of knowledge doom any attempt at central planning,[2] and Popper’s philosophy of science holds that observations can only falsify hypotheses.[3] Hence, “Negativism” would capture the central epistemic insight
Hayek, Popper, and “Negativism” Read More »
A good example of how political philosophy is driven by ethics. Here is Engels, Karl Marx’s collaborator in writing The Communist Manifesto and other works, criticizing liberals — despite nineteenth-century liberalism’s great accomplishment in reducing war and promoting peace between nations: You have brought about the fraternisation of the peoples – but the fraternity is
Friedrich Engels against liberal peace Read More »
John Dewey was one of the top two most influential philosophers of education in the twentieth century. Maria Montessori was the other. Dewey’s influence has been most strongly felt in the American public school system. In America, Montessori’s influence has mostly been grassroots and in privately funded schools. Montessori’s approach is highly individualistic and individualized.
John Dewey on education as socialization 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