Thus spake Friedrich: “Kant’s joke. — Kant wanted to prove, in a way that would dumbfound the whole world, that the whole world was right: that was the secret joke of this soul. He wrote against the scholars in favor of popular prejudice, but for scholars and not for the people.” Nietzsche, *The Gay Science*, […]
Kant’s joke, according to Nietzsche Read More »
One of the major, major pessimists in history. I quoted him earlier in the context of contemporary anti-humanism and those calling for human extinction. But lest we think of Arthur as always grim and cranky, here’s a delightful zinger. Schopenhauer, assessing Kant’s moral philosophy: “I should liken Kant to a man at a ball, who
Schopenhauer’s sense of humor Read More »
Kleist was widely traveled, energetic, a brilliant writer — and a suicide at age 34. Why? In reviewing Selected Prose of Heinrich von Kleist, Ian Brunskill writes: “Kleist in his youth had espoused with enthusiasm all the optimism of the Enlightenment. Reason would conquer all; happiness would come with experience and understanding. In March 1801,
Kleist: How Kant ruined my life Read More »
Dietrich was a Ph.D. in Political Science from Freiburg University (where later Martin Heidegger was professor of philosophy). In a 1934 lecture delivered at the University of Köln, Dietrich bases National Socialist political philosophy directly upon the philosophy of Kant, Fichte, and Hegel. A key theme of the lecture is Universalism versus Individualism, where individualism
Dr. Otto Dietrich, Hitler’s National Press Director [on Kant] Read More »
This article by Robert Tracinski is very good. He points out that Hume woke Kant from his dogmatic slumber and that Kant then devised a fundamental shift away from the Enlightenment, thus setting the stage for Hegel, Marx, the Frankfurt School, and now Wokism. “This all goes back to Kant’s upside-down idea of what is
Tracinski on Kant as the first Woke philosopher Read More »
“I had to deny knowledge,” wrote Kant in the Preface to the first Critique, “in order to make room for faith.” For more on the meaning and implications of Immanuel Kant’s contributions to postmodernism, see my Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism from Rousseau to Foucault (pp. 97-98). Information about other editions and translations of Explaining Postmodernism is
Immanuel Kant on faith [from Explaining Postmodernism] Read More »
“This is not a book review but a flat-out endorsement. Stephen R. C. Hicks’s Explaining Postmodernism is a great but very scary read.”
Professor Tibor Machan’s review of *Explaining Postmodernism* Read More »
My article, “Does Kant Have a Place in Classical Liberalism?” (English) was translated by the indefatigable Matheus Pacini into Portuguese: “KANT TEM LUGAR NO LIBERALISMO CLÁSSICO?” From the description: “Stephen R. C. Hicks argues that if our case for liberty comes from a mysterious other realm, then perhaps we have no case at all. He
Cato Unbound article on Kant translated into Portuguese Read More »