Hicks is the author of six 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 socialism,communism and liberalism.[3]
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.[11] Hicks argues that postmodernism is
"anti-realist, holding that it is impossible to speak meaningfully about an independently existing reality. Postmodernism substitutes instead a social-linguistic, constructionist account of reality. Epistemologically, having rejected the notion of an independently existing reality, postmodernism denies that reason or any other method is a means of acquiring direct knowledge of that reality. . . . Postmodern accounts of human nature are consistently collectivist, holding that individuals’ identities are constructed largely by the social-linguistic groups they are a part of . . . postmodern themes in ethics and politics are characterized by an identification with and sympathy for the groups perceived to be oppressed in the conflicts, and a willingness to enter the fray on their behalf."[12]
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?"[13]
Steven M. Sanders, professor emeritus of Philosophy at Bridgewater State College, writes:
With clarity, concision, and an engaging style, Hicks exposes the historical roots and philosophical assumptions of the postmodernist phenomenon. More than that, he raises key questions about the legacy of postmodernism and its implications for our intellectual attitudes and cultural life.[14]
Author and lecturer Matt McManus criticised Explaining Postmodernism as misrepresenting much of Western philosophy and being "full of misreadings, suppositions, rhetorical hyperbole and even flat out factual errors."[15]
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, particularly how Friedrich Nietzsche's ideas were used and misused by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to justify their beliefs and practices.[16][17] This was released in 2006 as a video documentary[18] and then in 2010 as a book.[19]
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)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
