Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks: Full Audiobook

*****See timestamps below for easy browsing*****
This audiobook edition of Explaining Postmodernism is read by the author.

To download MP3s of the audiobook or for more information, visit Dr. Stephen Hicks's Explaining Postmodernism page:

Timestamps:
00:00:00 EXPLAINING POSTMODERNISM
00:00:25 CHAPTER ONE: What Postmodernism Is
00:02:22 The postmodern vanguard: Foucault, Lyotard, Derrida, Rorty
00:09:22 Modern and postmodern
00:12:22 Modernism and the Enlightenment
00:22:50 Postmodernism versus the Enlightenment
00:25:06 Postmodern academic themes
00:29:51 Postmodern cultural themes
00:33:17 Why postmodernism?

CHAPTER TWO: The Counter-Enlightenment Attack on Reason
00:38:12 Enlightenment reason, liberalism, and science
00:40:20 The beginnings of the Counter-Enlightenment
00:47:05 Kant’s skeptical conclusion
00:50:57 Kant’s problematic from empiricism and rationalism
00:57:36 Kant’s essential argument
01:05:27 Identifying Kant’s key assumptions
01:10:55 Why Kant is the turning point
01:17:37 After Kant: reality or reason but not both
01:22:22 Metaphysical solutions to Kant: from Hegel to Nietzsche
01:27:50 Dialectic and saving religion
01:35:55 Hegel’s contribution to postmodernism
01:37:28 Epistemological solutions to Kant: irrationalism from Kierkegaard to Nietzsche
01:48:50 Summary of irrationalist themes

CHAPTER THREE: The Twentieth-Century Collapse of Reason
01:50:09 Heidegger’s synthesis of the Continental tradition
01:55:56 Setting aside reason and logic
01:59:44 Emotions as revelatory
02:05:17 Heidegger and postmodernism
02:09:21 Positivism and Analytic philosophy: from Europe to America
02:15:15 From Positivism to Analysis
02:18:55 Recasting philosophy’s function
02:22:06 Perception, concepts, and logic
02:29:37 From the collapse of Logical Positivism to Kuhn and Rorty
02:31:27 Summary: A vacuum for postmodernism to fill
02:34:35 First thesis: Postmodernism as the end result of Kantian epistemology

CHAPTER FOUR: The Climate of Collectivism
02:40:50 From postmodern epistemology to postmodern politics
02:44:56 The argument of the next three chapters
02:50:21 Responding to socialism’s crisis of theory and evidence
02:55:26 Back to Rousseau
02:57:27 Rousseau’s Counter-Enlightenment
03:05:45 Rousseau’s collectivism and statism
03:14:58 Rousseau and the French Revolution
03:22:53 Counter-Enlightenment Politics: Right and Left collectivism
03:27:13 Kant on collectivism and war
03:34:45 Herder on multicultural relativism
03:41:15 Fichte on education as socialization
03:55:50 Hegel on worshipping the state
04:04:25 From Hegel to the twentieth century
04:07:16 Right versus Left collectivism in the twentieth century
04:17:12 The Rise of National Socialism: Who are the real socialists?

CHAPTER FIVE: The Crisis of Socialism
04:23:25 Marx and waiting for Godot
04:25:33 Three failed predictions
04:28:51 Socialism needs an aristocracy: Lenin, Mao, and the lesson of the German Social Democrats
04:35:23 Good news for socialism: depression and war
04:38:16 Bad news: liberal capitalism rebounds
04:41:11 Worse news: Khrushchev’s revelations and Hungary
04:49:42 Responding to the crisis: change socialism’s ethical standard
04:51:47 From need to equality
04:56:12 From 'Wealth is good' to 'Wealth is bad'
05:03:22 Responding to the crisis: change socialism’s epistemology
05:09:30 Marcuse and the Frankfurt School: Marx plus Freud, or oppression plus repression

CHAPTER SIX: Postmodern Strategy
05:20:53 Connecting epistemology to politics
05:22:43 Masks and rhetoric in language
05:30:16 When theory clashes with fact
05:32:15 Kierkegaardian postmodernism
05:38:13 Reversing Thrasymachus
05:40:51 Using contradictory discourses as a political strategy
05:44:50 Machiavellian postmodernism
05:46:18 Machiavellian rhetorical discourses
05:48:15 Deconstruction as an educational strategy
05:54:41 Ressentiment postmodernism
05:57:56 Nietzschean ressentiment
06:02:11 Foucault and Derrida on the end of man
06:09:25 Ressentiment strategy
06:13:50 Post-postmodernism

Other links:

[leonardorodrigues]

Here are time marks for ease of navigation through the chapters.


EXPLAINING POSTMODERNISM 00:00:00



CHAPTER ONE: What Postmodernism Is 00:00:25

The postmodern vanguard: Foucault, Lyotard, Derrida, Rorty 00:02:22

Modern and postmodern 00:09:22

Modernism and the Enlightenment 00:12:22

Postmodernism versus the Enlightenment 00:22:50

Postmodern academic themes 00:25:06

Postmodern cultural themes 00:29:51

Why postmodernism? 00:33:17


CHAPTER TWO: The Counter-Enlightenment Attack on Reason
Enlightenment reason, liberalism, and science 00:38:12

The beginnings of the Counter-Enlightenment 00:40:20

Kant’s skeptical conclusion 00:47:05

Kant’s problematic from empiricism and rationalism 00:50:57

Kant’s essential argument 00:57:36

Identifying Kant’s key assumptions 01:05:27

Why Kant is the turning point 01:10:55

After Kant: reality or reason but not both 01:17:37

Metaphysical solutions to Kant: from Hegel to Nietzsche 01:22:22

Dialectic and saving religion 01:27:50

Hegel’s contribution to postmodernism 01:35:55

Epistemological solutions to Kant: irrationalism from Kierkegaard to Nietzsche 01:37:28

Summary of irrationalist themes 01:48:50



CHAPTER THREE: The Twentieth-Century Collapse of Reason
Heidegger’s synthesis of the Continental tradition 01:50:09

Setting aside reason and logic 01:55:56

Emotions as revelatory 01:59:44

Heidegger and postmodernism 02:05:17

Positivism and Analytic philosophy: from Europe to America 02:09:21

From Positivism to Analysis 02:15:15

Recasting philosophy’s function 02:18:55

Perception, concepts, and logic 02:22:06

From the collapse of Logical Positivism to Kuhn and Rorty 02:29:37

Summary: A vacuum for postmodernism to fill 02:31:27

First thesis: Postmodernism as the end result of Kantian epistemology 02:34:35



CHAPTER FOUR: The Climate of Collectivism 02:40:42

From postmodern epistemology to postmodern politics 02:40:50

The argument of the next three chapters 02:44:56

Responding to socialism’s crisis of theory and evidence 02:50:21

Back to Rousseau 02:55:26

Rousseau’s Counter-Enlightenment 02:57:27

Rousseau’s collectivism and statism 03:05:45

Rousseau and the French Revolution 03:14:58

Counter-Enlightenment Politics: Right and Left collectivism 03:22:53

Kant on collectivism and war 03:27:13

Herder on multicultural relativism 03:34:45

Fichte on education as socialization 03:41:15

Hegel on worshipping the state 03:55:50

From Hegel to the twentieth century 04:04:25

Right versus Left collectivism in the twentieth century 04:07:16

The Rise of National Socialism: Who are the real socialists? 04:17:12



CHAPTER FIVE: The Crisis of Socialism
Marx and waiting for Godot 04:23:25

Three failed predictions 04:25:33

Socialism needs an aristocracy: Lenin, Mao, and the lesson of the German Social Democrats 04:28:51

Good news for socialism: depression and war 04:35:23

Bad news: liberal capitalism rebounds 04:38:16

Worse news: Khrushchev’s revelations and Hungary 04:41:11

Responding to the crisis: change socialism’s ethical standard 04:49:42

From need to equality 04:51:47

From 'Wealth is good' to 'Wealth is bad' 04:56:12

Responding to the crisis: change socialism’s epistemology 05:03:22

Marcuse and the Frankfurt School: Marx plus Freud, or oppression plus repression 05:09:30

The rise and fall of Left terrorism

From the collapse of the New Left to postmodernism



CHAPTER SIX: Postmodern Strategy 05:20:45
Connecting epistemology to politics

Masks and rhetoric in language 05:22:43

When theory clashes with fact 05:30:16

Kierkegaardian postmodernism 05:32:15

Reversing Thrasymachus 05:38:13

Using contradictory discourses as a political strategy 05:40:51

Machiavellian postmodernism 05:44:50

Machiavellian rhetorical discourses 05:46:18

Deconstruction as an educational strategy 05:48:15

Ressentiment postmodernism 05:54:41

Nietzschean ressentiment 05:57:56

Foucault and Derrida on the end of man 06:02:11

Ressentiment strategy 06:09:25

Post-postmodernism 06:13:50

[AnotherGradus]

After taking a course on Philosophy, it's refreshing to have a critical analysis of what's being advocated by those "representatives of culture"-- as most books just summarize themes without their implications. Stephen Hicks unpacks the called Post-Modernism by letting the various works unravel themselves by presenting their contradictions and detriments as they are.

I bought this book back in 2005 after it was endorsed by a Literary Criticism professor, -- back when I had written an essay on "Why science wasn't just another narrative" (or something like that). I couldn't quite articulate why I disagreed with cultural relativism, so _Explaining Postmodernism_ clarified the subject immensely.

[loveredwarrior]

It took me weeks to finally get through this, and I need to listen at least once more if I’m to understand it well enough to explain it to someone else. That’s not to say Hick’s has done an inadequate job; on the contrary, he has dispensed a great deal of information, and very clearly, in these six hours. I’m grateful to him for making it available.

[edmarques]

I just finished listening to this. Really, an amazing six hour adventure.

[pedrotenoriomendes]

The best thing I've heard in YouTube for a long time !

[terrymcanalen]

Applause, applause, applause, praise, praise, praise,
Professor Hicks had delivered a brilliant, accurate, and penetrating tour de force and lucid exigesis, critically demolishing postmodernist philosophy and finishes his masterwork by bringing the listener or reader back to fact that the modernist enlightenment is not finished and the fact that there is still work to be done to further the interests of reason and rational philosophy, ten out of ten, professor Hicks, this is a remarkable lecture furthering the interests of Libertarians and Capitalist philosophy everywhere and a pillar of the Liberty and Freedom of the Human Individual in today's world and morass of left wing socialist politics and agitators . Thank you so much for making this lecture available to YouTube viewers .

[巾帼之光]

i just finished reading this book with the audio...its now 1am in the morning....i absolutely love it. thank you!

[TurboSol]

Here after the Jordan Peterson recommendation :)

[colobos]

June 2020 - very pertinent time to re-listen to this, given the ideology is manifesting now with chaos in the west

[johnbrown]

A wonderful gift to all! Thank you Dr. Hicks.

[princeofruins]

I bought the book before realizing this existed. I regret nothing, this was illuminating.

[clickityclackity]

After listening to this incredible book, several times, I’m in awe of our ability for thought and understanding. This leaves me somewhat shocked and elated at the same time. Maybe a little frightened as well. It begs the question, “why are we taught to live as we do in the US. when the majority of us aren’t nearly close to our full potential? Also, studying philosophy the past few years, lots of things really make much more sense now, from a global perspective. Turns out, there are better ways to spend one’s time. Thanks for posting this!

[theyliveglasses]

Listen to this while tidying your room, buckos.

[victorian-dad]

Thank you Mr Hicks for explaining the madness of the left so eloquently. This is one of the most enlightening books I have ever been exposed to. A masterpiece.

[primitiveonpurpose]

Ah, no wonder the students I teach are not interested in the past. It's not THEIR past. Thank you Stephen R. C. Hicks. Surely we sit at the foot of a master here.

[thefredkalis]

Thank you. You have a great voice, I'm french, you are easy to understand 😀

[over-educated-sp]

Just got out of surgery from an appendectomy, guess this is a wonderful time to do dive into this!

[hjgxkhjkbl]

Postmodernism is obviously the madness of our time

[xxcrysadxx]

Its sad that you can read this aloud faster than I can read it privately to myself (and I have, it's terrific! Nicely bound too)... I hate being a slow reader.

[MrGoatflakes]

21:35 you forgot to mention that plumbers have saved nearly ten times as many people as doctors and medicine.