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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Now Available: Volumes I, II, III, and IV of the Collected Published and Unpublished Papers.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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Sunday, November 3, 2019

AND NOW, BY POPULAR DEMAND


In the slang of half a century ago and more, I am easy.  If two or even three comments on this blog express a desire for me to post a lecture on YouTube on some subject or other, I start turning the idea over in my head.  Recently, in an unguarded moment, I floated the idea of a series on the philosophy of David Hume.  Several people, as they say nowadays, “liked” the idea, including one new viewer from 8000 miles away [Australia?].  This despite the fact that some years ago I posted on this very blog a 27,000 word essay on the Philosophy of David Hume.  [You’ve read the book, now see the movie?]

But where and when to record the lectures?  The where is easy – a room in Caldwell Hall, the home of the UNC Chapel Hill Philosophy department, virtually right around the corner.  But when is more difficult.  I cannot start them now, so near the end of the semester.  No one will show up, and my first experience with YouTubeing, the ten lectures on Ideological Critique delivered to no one at all in my home study, persuaded me that I need at least someone listening in person to keep me from going all freaky and self-referential.   UNC this spring?  Well, I am already booked there to teach Karl Marx’s Critique of Capitalism starting in January, and there is clearly a limit to how much Wolff a department can stand.  This summer?  Caldwell Hall is a morgue once exams are over.  Maybe next fall, though if I am again teaching at Columbia, that would be a bit of a heavy lift for someone who will by then be eighty-six. 

Still and all, my public calls, all four of them.  I must think on it.

13 comments:

Dean said...

There is a middle approach, though I fear it would be technically demanding, at least to begin. That would be to host a web conference to which you invite your blog readership. You could work from your home study, but you'd deliver the lectures to a remote virtual audience, who would be able to "chat" with you, posting questions and comments in real time. I admit, it's not the same as having a live audience in the same space, but there would be a modicum of interaction.

s. wallerstein said...

I'd be interest in hearing your Hume lectures too. I didn't answer affirmatively previously because I was without internet for a few days and I haven't caught up with everything yet.

I myself enjoyed your lectures on Ideological Critique. I don't mind if you're freaky and self-referencial as long as the subject interests me.

Tyler said...

I will break my silence in the comment section to say that I would also be very interested in a Hume lecture series.

trane said...

Please, no stress. But I would also be very interested in a Hume lecture series.

Cheers,
trane

Matt S said...

I would also watch Hume lectures.

Unknown said...

Lectures on Hume, or as you briefly mentioned Wittgenstein, even though you said he would be a hard hitter for most people, would make me so so happy! I still watch your Kant lectures and am just an adoring fan. And yes, I read along with the lectures and could not be more thankful to you.

Please think it over.

NP

Christopher J. Mulvaney, Ph.D. said...

Dr. Wolff,
Please do not overlook the "The Rabbit Society" lecture.

Mazen said...

Where can we find your essay on the philosophy of David Hume?

Robert Paul Wolff said...

Mazen, archived in box.net, accessible via the link at the top of the blog.

Robert Paul Wolff said...

Chris, do you mean my example of the bush beaters and rabbit whompers, or something else?

Christopher J. Mulvaney, Ph.D. said...

Dr. Wolff,
Precisely! As I recall, they worshipped a six foot white rabbit called Harvey. Your routine is too instructive, and way too funny, not to be committed to digitization!

Sonic said...

I'm THRILLED to hear you're considering more video lectures! I can't read much, and I cant do schooling. When it comes to learning, especially philosophy, your videos are the most valuable thing to me. You're SO good at explaining things, and even subjects I think would be boring become fascinating and important. I'm immediately going to share this with all the other young leftists I know, as I did with your other lectures.

Also, I loved the movie Harvey, and I've been dying of curiosity about this hypothetical Harvey society. If you need any encouragement to tell that one to the class.

Anonymous said...

Hi again Professor Wolff,
I’m the new viewer you mention in your post. Not from Australia, though:) I live in Istanbul, Turkey, which is not 8,000 miles away, but 8,000 kilometers (from NYC); my bad, sorry.
Another apology: I thought you were talking about blog posts, rather than video lectures. I did not know you already wrote a long essay on Hume. I love your YouTube lectures, but am also perfectly fine with what you already have on Hume. I really would not want to push you on video lectures.
Again, thank you very much for all your work. Have a great day!