Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks (born August 19, 1960) is a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He teaches at Rockford University, where he also directs the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship.

Career

Hicks earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(Honours, 1981) and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degrees from the University of Guelph, and his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(1991) from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. The title of his doctoral thesis was "Foundationalism and the Genesis of Justification". Hicks is the author of six books and a documentary. ''Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault'' (Scholargy, 2004) argues that

postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

is best understood as a rhetorical strategy of the academic left developed in reaction to the failure of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

and

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

. Additionally, Hicks has published articles and essays on a range of subjects, including entrepreneurism, free speech in academia, the history and development of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...

's Objectivism,

business ethics Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business c ...

and the

philosophy of education The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It also examines the concepts and presuppositions of education theories. It is an interdisciplinary fiel ...

, including a series of

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

lectures. 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), ''Art: Modern, Postmodern, and Beyond'' (with Michael Newberry, 2021) and ''Eight Philosophies of Education'' (with Andrew C. Colgan, forthcoming, 2023).

''Explaining Postmodernism''

Hicks is known for his book, ''Explaining Postmodernism.'' Hicks argues that

is Professor Max Hocutt explains that Hick's book addresses two important questions: "why does postmodernist rhetoric display blatant disregard for accuracy and obvious contempt for civility?" and "why have 'postmodernist' intellectuals of the kind you find in English departments and Women's Studies programs, but not the Chemistry department, rejected Enlightenment belief in reason while embracing epistemological relativism and metaphysical nihilism instead?" Steven M. Sanders, professor emeritus of Philosophy at Bridgewater State College, writes: Author and lecturer Matt McManus criticised ''Explaining Postmodernism'' as misrepresenting much of

Western philosophy Western philosophy refers to the Philosophy, philosophical thought, traditions and works of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the Pre ...

and being "full of misreadings, suppositions, rhetorical hyperbole and even flat out factual errors."

''Nietzsche and the Nazis''

Hicks is also known for his documentary and book, ''Nietzsche and the Nazis'', which is an examination of the ideological and philosophical roots of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, particularly how

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

's ideas were used and misused by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and the Nazis to justify their beliefs and practices. This was released in 2006 as a video documentary and then in 2010 as a book.

Books

*''Liberalism Pro and Con : A Primer'' (2024) *''Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault'' (2013) *''What Business Ethics Can Learn From Entrepreneurship'' (2011) *''Nietzsche and the Nazis: A Personal View '' (2010) *''Free Speech & Postmodernism'' (2010)

External links

Stephenhicks.orgThe Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship's site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Stephen 1960 births Living people 20th-century Canadian philosophers 21st-century Canadian philosophers 21st-century American philosophers American anti-communists Canadian anti-communists American critics of postmodernism Canadian critics of postmodernism Indiana University Bloomington alumni Objectivists Activists from Toronto Rockford University faculty University of Guelph alumni Canadian free speech activists Objectivism scholars Nietzsche scholars Historians of Nazism American free speech activists