Stephen Hicks | |
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![]() Hicks lecturing in 2013 | |
Born | Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks August 19, 1960 |
Nationality | Canadian and American |
Education | University of Guelph (BA, MA) Indiana University, Bloomington (PhD) |
Era | Contemporary philosophy |
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Analytic Objectivism |
Institutions | Rockford University |
Main interests | Epistemology, Business Ethics, Postmodernism |
Notable ideas | Criticism of postmodernism, entrepreneurism |
Website | www |
Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks (born August 19, 1960) is a Canadian-American philosopher. He teaches at Rockford University, where he also directs the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship.
Hicks earned his Bachelor of Arts (Honours, 1981) and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Guelph, and his Doctor of Philosophy (1991) from Indiana University Bloomington. His doctoral thesis was a defense of foundationalism.[1]
Hicks is the author of five books and a documentary. Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Scholargy, 2004) argues that postmodernism is best understood as a rhetorical strategy of the academic left developed in reaction to the failure of anarchism, socialism, communism.[2] and liberalism.
Hicks' documentary and book, Nietzsche and the Nazis, is an examination of the ideological and philosophical roots of Nazism, particularly how Friedrich Nietzsche's ideas were misused by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to justify their beliefs and practices.[3] This was released in 2006 as a video documentary[4] and then in 2010 as a book.[5]
Additionally, Hicks has published articles and essays on a range of subjects, including entrepreneurism,[6] free speech in academia,[7] the history and development of modern art,[8][9] Ayn Rand's Objectivism,[10] business ethics[11] and the philosophy of education, including a series of YouTube lectures.[12]
Hicks is also the co-editor, with David Kelley, of a critical thinking textbook, The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis (W. W. Norton & Co., second edition, 1998), Entrepreneurial Living with Jennifer Harrolle (CEEF, 2016), Liberalism Pro and Con (Connor Court, 2020), and Art: Modern, Postmodern, and Beyond (with Michael Newberry, 2021).
Criticism
Hicks's book Explaining Postmodernism was criticised by Matt McManus (lecturer in Sociology at the University of Calgary and the author of The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism and A Critical Legal Examination of Liberalism and Liberal Rights amongst other books) as misrepresenting much of Western philosophy and being "full of misreadings, suppositions, rhetorical hyperbole and even flat out factual errors."[13] McManus also says,
Hicks completely misinterprets Lyotard’s quotation about Saddam Hussein in his 1997 book Postmodern Fables. Lyotard claims that, “Saddam Hussein is a product of Western departments of state and big companies,” which Hicks interprets to mean that Hussein is a “victim and spokesman for victims of American imperialism the world over.” In fact, Lyotard’s essay discusses the early support Hussein received from the American government during his prolonged war against Iran in the 1980s. These interpretive problems immediately make one suspicious that this book may be less about explaining postmodernism in a liberal and charitable way and more about lumping together and dismissing all forms of left-wing criticism that may owe an intellectual debt to continental European thought.[13]
References
- ^ Hicks, Stephen. "Foundationalism and the Genesis of Justification".
- ^ "Postmodernism Unpeeled". davidthompson. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- ^ Donway, Roger. "The Postmodern Assault on Reason". The Atlas Society. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- ^ "Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. » "Nietzsche and the Nazis" update". Stephenhicks.org. 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
- ^ "Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. » Nietzsche and the Nazis". Stephenhicks.org. April 25, 2010. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ Hicks, Stephen R. C. (May 2, 2016). "What Entrepreneurship Can Teach Us About Life". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Free Speech and Postmodernism, (2002)
- ^ "Why Art Became Ugly". atlassociety.org. Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
- ^ "Post-Postmodern Art". Michaelnewberry.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ Objectivism page from Hicks's website
- ^ Business and economics ethics page from Hicks's website
- ^ Philosophy of Education page on Hicks's website.
- ^ a b McManus, Matt (October 17, 2018). "A Review of Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks". Areo. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
External links
- The Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship's website
- Information page for Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault
- Ockham's Razor Publishing's information page for Nietzsche and the Nazis
- Postmodern Monsters: Interview of Stephen Hicks by Benjamin Boyce
- Stephen Hicks: philosopher, highwayman: profile of Stephen Hicks by Kevin Ryan.