Stephen Hicks
Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks 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 and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Guelph, and his Doctor of Philosophy from Indiana University Bloomington. His doctoral thesis was a defense of foundationalism.
Hicks is the author of five books and a documentary. Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault argues that postmodernism is best understood as a rhetorical strategy of intellectuals and academics on the far-left of the political spectrum developed in reaction to the failure of anarchism, socialism and communism.
Hicks' documentary and book, Nietzsche and the Nazis, is an examination of the ideological and philosophical roots of National Socialism, particularly how Friedrich Nietzsche's ideas were used, and in some cases misused, by Adolf Hitler 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.
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, Ayn Rand's Objectivism, business ethics and the philosophy of education, including a series of YouTube lectures.
Hicks is also the co-editor, with David Kelley, of a critical thinking textbook, The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis, Entrepreneurial Living with Jennifer Harrolle, and Liberalism Pro and Con.
