How Education Became Indoctrination: Dr Stephen Hicks

What is education? Why is that ultimately a philosophical question? What is the difference between education and indoctrination? How does indoctrination threaten education today? Is woke ideology antithetical to education?

Stephen R. C. Hicks is Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, Illinois, USA, Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, and Senior Scholar at The Atlas Society. In 2010, he won his university’s Excellence in Teaching Award. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Guelph, Canada, and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

He has six books:

Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Scholargy Publishing, 2004; Expanded Edition, 2011)
Nietzsche and the Nazis (Ockham’s Razor, 2010).
The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis (co-edited with David Kelley, W. W. Norton & Co., 1994, second edition 1998).
Entrepreneurial Living (co-edited with Jennifer Harrolle, CEEF, 2016).
Liberalism Pro and Con (Connor Court, 2020)
Eight Philosophies of Education (co-authored with Andrew Colgan, forthcoming 2021)

His writings have been translated into sixteen languages.

00:00 How did Dr Hicks discover his passion for philosophy?
02:56 Was there a particular book or idea that seized him?
4:46 Why are all discussions about education ultimately philosophical?
9:23 Which philosophical battles have had the greatest impact on education?
13:37 What is the biggest philosophical battle in education today?
19:53 Nietzsche has been called the 'grandfather of postmodernism'. How influential have his ideas been, especially his perspectivism?
26:22 How is Nietzsche's view of the world as different power centres vying for dominance related to the Marxist concept of oppression?
30:20 Do those who would aim at removing inequality need themselves to be in a position of power?
32:14 Who will be given the power to fix society?
35:53 Does the view that human beings lack agency explain attempts to stifle debate?
41:00 Are we witnessing a weaponisation of language?
48:06 To what extent does this weaponisation of language involve using it as a Trojan horse?
51:34 Has the term 'education' been weaponised and hollowed out?
55:06 How can concerned teachers resist the move towards indoctrination?
59:28 Why is courage so important?
1:00:39 What you hopeful about?

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