My “Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand” was published in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. Here is the abstract for my 43-page study: “Philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand are often identified as strong critics of altruism and arch advocates of egoism. In this essay, Stephen Hicks argues that Nietzsche and Rand have much in […]
Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand Read More »
Strategy question: Does one plunge into political activism—or will political efforts not be effective until the broader culture is ready for it? A common response is to say “Politics is downstream from culture.” Here is one datum, from Philip Reiff: “[T]he first Christian culture revolution accommodated itself from the beginning to the ruling classes of
How do political cultures change? Read More »
… is by Sting. From his 1999 Brand New Day album. If you like, listen to the song while reading the lyrics below (YouTube version here). Then further below are the lyrics with my thematic-dramatic-arc notes added. “Fill Her Up” Mobil stationWhere I standThis old gas pumpIn my hand. The boss don’t like meA face
The best religious conservative song ever [reprise] Read More »
Reminds me of past extended-family debates over whether Christmas is a legitimate Christian holiday: * One faction argued that we need to put the Christ back in Christmas.* Another faction argued that Christ never was properly in it so Christians should boycott.* A third, semi-pagan faction just got on with enjoying the good food, presents,
Christians against Christmas? Read More »
Pope Alexander VI really knew how to throw a party. Rodrigo Borgia became Alexander VI in 1492 and livened things up at the Vatican. As reported in William Manchester’s excellent A World Lit Only by Fire, p. 79: ‘Once he became Pope Alexander VI, Vatican parties, already wild, grew wilder. They were costly, but he
Reformation-era extremes, Alexander VI version Read More »
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 »
From philosopher Miguel de Unamuno’s The Tragic Sense of Life, which I re-read for the first time since my undergraduate days. Note these arresting lines: “A human soul is worth all the universe, someone — I know not whom — has said and said magnificently. A human soul, mind you! Not a human life. Not
Does religion make you more warlike? Unamuno on war and the soul Read More »
[I use Ayn Rand’s classic The Fountainhead in my Introduction to Philosophy course, analyzing the five major characters as moral-philosophical types. Here is a digest of the novel’s brilliant-manipulator villain, Ellsworth Toohey.] The ethics of altruism holds that others are the standard of value. One is good to the extent one puts the interests of
Ellsworth Toohey’s five strategies of altruism [repost] Read More »