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The following books by Robert Paul Wolff are available on Amazon.com as e-books: KANT'S THEORY OF MENTAL ACTIVITY, THE AUTONOMY OF REASON, UNDERSTANDING MARX, UNDERSTANDING RAWLS, THE POVERTY OF LIBERALISM, A LIFE IN THE ACADEMY, MONEYBAGS MUST BE SO LUCKY, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF FORMAL METHODS IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.
Now Available: Volumes I, II, III, and IV of the Collected Published and Unpublished Papers.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON KANT'S CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for "Robert Paul Wolff Kant." There they will be.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON THE THOUGHT OF KARL MARX. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for Robert Paul Wolff Marx."





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Tuesday, June 7, 2016

THE PEACE THAT PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING


For months now I have been in an almost constant state of agitation about the current political campaign.  My distaste for Clinton and fear of Trump color my days and nights.  Now, happily, a soothing calm has settled on me, making even the daily chores of shopping at the market and preparing dinner once again joyful.  [Tonight?  Seared tuna with a dipping sauce of garlic, ginger, and soy sauce, haricot verts, and my signature dish of cherry tomato halves sautéed with garlic and chopped fresh basil.]

The cause of this calm?  The thought that very soon I shall again be teaching Kant’s First Critique.  It is for me what it must be for a pianist or harpsichordist who returns to playing Bach’s Art of the Fugue.  I find myself throughout the day delivering the first lecture in my head, planning the sequence in which I shall explain the countless things students must know in order to begin to appreciate that transcendently [and also, as it happens, transcendentally] great work.

Oh, I shall volunteer for the Clinton campaign in North Carolina and do my little bit to carry the state for her, perhaps also helping to rid us of our egregious senior senator and appalling governor.  But as I enter data or walk door to door, in my head I shall be revisiting the Deduction of the Pure Concepts of Understanding or the Second Analogy.

What fun!

6 comments:

s. wallerstein said...

If Kant's First Critique is like Bach's Art of the Fugue, what piece of music is Marx's Capital like?

Gene said...

One of the hallmarks of Bach is his clarity. Anyone with functioning ears can appreciate him. I wouldn't say the same about Kant.

Robert Paul Wolff said...

Beethoven's Ninth

David Auerbach said...

I was think the last quartets.

Austin Haigler said...

If the Kant lectures are still including students, expect one from NC State. After having spent countless hours over the past 6 months making sense of (or attempting) the transcendental deduction, making a little more sense about the schematism, actually feeling like I have a firm grasp on the analogies, and then incorporating Kant's idea of imagination into the mix, I asked Michael Pendlebury what one would do next if looking to study the First Critique in more depth... Looks like I found it!

Also, it might be a little less stressful knowing this for pure enrichment rather than making sure I get an A :)

Robert Paul Wolff said...

come on along -- Mondays at 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Caldwell Hall 213 at UNC, starting August 29th.