Rousseau, Romanticism, and Back‑to‑Nature

They link Rousseau to romanticized tribalism, environmentalism, and modern critiques of industrialization and progress.

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Episode notes

I sat down with philosopher and author Dr. Stephen Hicks to unpack the West’s trajectory from medieval Christianity to modern progressivism. We explore the psychological fallout of online information overload and a failing education system that is fueling a socialist resurgence. Dr. Hicks breaks down how the rediscovery of Greco-Roman writings by figures like St. Thomas Aquinas—and, a few centuries later, the Protestant Reformation—set the stage for the Enlightenment, gradually developing the ideas that would eventually become “classical liberalism.” We also track the parallel development of leftist thought, from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the French Revolution to Marx and today’s woke reign of terror.

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Follow Dr. Hicks on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/SRCHicks?s=20

Check out Dr. Hicks’ Peterson Academy courses: https://petersonacademy.com/instructors/stephen-hicks

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Outline:

[0:00] What is “the truth”?

[6:06] “Expert consensus” and misinformation

[18:27] Filtering through information overload

[30:31] The evolution of adulthood and education

[39:53] Religion, literacy, and the Protestant Reformation

[45:12] Did Christianity invent individualism?

[59:44] Collectivism is the problem, not religion