Stephen Hicks

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.

This article is about the philosopher. For the American Civil War soldier, see Stephen G. Hicks. For the murder victim, see Jeffrey Dahmer § Murder of Steven Hicks.
Not to be confused with Steven Hicks.

Stephen Hicks
Hicks lecturing in 2013
Born
Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks

(1960-08-19) August 19, 1960
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian and American
EducationUniversity of Guelph (BA, MA)
Indiana University, Bloomington (PhD)
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic
Objectivism
InstitutionsRockford University
Main interests
Epistemology, Business Ethics, Postmodernism
Notable ideas
Criticism of postmodernism, entrepreneurism
Influences
Websitewww.stephenhicks.org

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 and communism.[2]

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 reviewed widely and mostly positively by Ph.D. philosophers in scholarly journals such as The Review of Metaphysics, Reason Papers, and The Independent Review. The book was also 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" and then McManus claims that, "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
  1. Hicks, Stephen. "Foundationalism and the Genesis of Justification".
  2. "Postmodernism Unpeeled". davidthompson. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  3. Donway, Roger. "The Postmodern Assault on Reason". The Atlas Society. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  4. "Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. » "Nietzsche and the Nazis" update". Stephenhicks.org. 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  5. "Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. » Nietzsche and the Nazis". Stephenhicks.org. 2010-04-25. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  6. Hicks, Stephen R. C. (2 May 2016). "What Entrepreneurship Can Teach Us About Life". Wall Street Journal.
  7. Free Speech and Postmodernism, (2002)
  8. "Why Art Became Ugly". atlassociety.org. Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  9. "Post-Postmodern Art". Michaelnewberry.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  10. Objectivism page from Hicks's website
  11. Business and economics ethics page from Hicks's website
  12. Philosophy of Education page on Hicks's website.
  13. "A Review of Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks". Areo. 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
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