In my on-going effort to find some way to present my thoughts on Ideological Critique, it occurred to me that perhaps I could deliver a series of lectures from my study and post them on YouTube. I would need a good video camera and a lapel mike so that the audio is clear. Above is a photo of one corner of my study, taken from my desk [which in this tiny study is only seven or eight feet away.] The "podium" is a music stand, and the ladder to the right is used to access the top shelves, which hold the complete works of Marx and Engels [English edition -- the German is in the Paris apartment] and lots of extra copies of the books I have published.
If I had the energy, perhaps with each posted lecture I could also write and post on my blog a formal version of the lecture [not a transcription] for the folks who would prefer to read rather than listen.
If any of this proves feasible, I hope to launch the lecture series next January. I will consider the series to have gone viral if half a dozen people watch it. Hey, I have taught courses with that few students!
Prof. Wolff, I have only stumbled across your blog in the last few months and have been thoroughly enjoying reading through your older tutorials. I for one am eagerly awaiting your lectures series, whatever form it takes!
ReplyDeleteProfessor Wolff --
ReplyDeleteThis possibility would be a dream come true for me. You once said the following words in an udergraduate "History of Modern Philosophy" course at UMass in the late 1980s: "You can learn something from everything I say to you." I took it to heart then, always have, and still do. Keep teaching us -- there is always something more to learn.
-- Jim
This is great news. Great setting too. I only wish there were a live audience.
ReplyDeletesigh. So do I, Jerry.
ReplyDeleteYes, please go ahead with this, it sounds like a great idea. I am looking forward to it. I am going to try to get the books as well and follow along, although as a number of other people have noted getting the time will be a challenge. Oh to be retired!
ReplyDeleteProf. Wolff,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I cannot formally commit to your course, but from my own experience with your tutorials, I'm sure it will be terrific.
I also think your choice of setting cannot possibly be improved upon and it's possibly much better than a normal classroom. It's wonderful and charming.
Just one question I had been musing: are you fluent in German?
Alas, Magpie, I am, one might say, linguistically challenged. I have absolutely perfect command of English, and very little else. There was a time, half a century and more ago, when I actually read entire books of Kant scholarship in German, by Erich Adickes and Hans Vaihinger, among others, but today I would have a hard time with Emil der Detektiv.
ReplyDeleteThis is the shallowest of shallow comments, but looking at your bookshelves is delightful.
ReplyDeleteIn whatever shape or form, I really hope you manage to go through with this.
ReplyDeleteI almost certainly won't have time to follow the course in 2016 but the beauty of youtube is that you can find classic lecture courses by absolute professionals and follow them long after they were given. Rick Roderick, David Harvey and Raymond Geuss will all continue to educate and inspire a long time from now. I hope you will too.