Just short of six years ago, in August 2016, I began what became a series of nine lectures on Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Through the courtesy of the UNC Chapel Hill Philosophy Department, the lectures were delivered in a large lecture room in Caldwell Hall. They were filmed by a young graduate student, Alexander Campbell, who managed the technologically tricky task of posting them on YouTube. Alex, who successfully defended his fine doctoral dissertation last spring, subsequently recorded and posted several more series of lectures that I gave in the same venue.
A few moments ago, the YouTube counter of views for that
first lecture passed 200,000, and I thought I would take a moment to
memorialize the event. It must of course be put in context: when I looked
earlier this morning, Michael Sandel’s first lecture on justice at Harvard had
racked up 4.5 million views. But 200,000 views of a lecture on the First
Critique is nothing to be sneezed at. As with all such series of YouTube
lectures, the number of views declines precipitously as one moves through the
series. The ninth lecture in the series has been viewed 15,701 times, which I
suspect means that more than 14,000 people have watched all nine lectures.
Now, I have offered a course on the Critique more than ten times in my half century long career. I imagine that I have taught that great book to a total of 200 or 300 students since I first lectured on it at Harvard in the spring of 1960. But 14,000?
Judging from the emails I have received over the years, those lectures
have been watched in their entirety by people all over the world – by senior
professors, by graduate students, by undergraduates, and quite often by people
not in the Academy who simply wanted to know something about Kant.
As I prepare once more to go into the classroom and teach, I
am sadly aware that this may be, if not the last, then very nearly the last
course I shall teach in person. But 10 years, 20 years, indeed perhaps even 50
years from now, my series of nine lectures on the first half of the First
Critique will still be available on YouTube or some successor to it and, I can
hope, will still be attracting viewers interested in Kant’s philosophy.
Not immortality, surely. But not nothing, all the same.
10 comments:
Professor - The 14,000 viewers is far from nothing. As one of your watchers, I can tell you I am still working on the videos. I watched five or six of the videos and now and reading and re-reading Kant before I go back to your videos. I will get to all of them, but it will take me a little while. Thank you again for all you have put into the videos.
Agreed with Thomas, I really appreciate all the effort you've put into those lectures. I won't pretend to understand about 90% of what's discussed in your videos (not your fault, the material and ideas are no cake walk!), but I nonetheless enjoy watching them. Your enthusiasm and knowledgeability of the complex ideas being discussed has been quite a joy. You've actually gotten me to read a book I would have never ever considered, Mannheim's Ideology and Utopia.
Indeed! Given what credible scientists believe will be the end of life as we know it in a few decades, I think it is a safe bet that humanoids will be watching you lecture on Kant until the end of time. Kant should be so lucky.
Your readings are in my eyes among the best I could find on the Internet against the background of the subject of philosophy.
Once 20 years ago I had the wonderful opportunity to get a guided tour from the head of the workshop of the Cologne Cathedral. Almost 3 hours we climbed in twos into the remotest corners of the building. Even there, where you can see how the ancient builders found and tamed the invisible lines of force to build a building that is able to capture the light.
I feel similarly about your guided tour of the imposing architecture of Kant's Critique.
whenever I am looking for a person who knows about Kant, I never fail to think R.P Wolff. Like some others here, understanding Kant is no easy matter.Understanding Kant's mature philosophy can involve one in a life time of difficult work and a deep desire to understand. Thus Professor Wolff has brought this special intellectual endeavor home to many many others, and myself. Thank you Professor Wolff for your gift of understanding one of the greatest philosophers of all time.
I'm 28 and only have an associates degree from community college.
If YouTube blows up tomorrow and every video is lost forever, don't worry. I have all your videos backed up.
Congratulations, Prof! Now you can add " Celebrity professor " to your academic bio, lol. On a serious note though -- I found your lectures on Kant not only enlightening, but also interest-piquing, particularly on a work as dry and over-scholarly as the CPR.
- Irregular reader of your blog, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Yes!
The lectures have been pleasure and opportunity during winter solitude in my hermitage on the mountainside above an interior Alaska glacier, offering light in the darkness and snow. That you are available here to me is amazing and life-altering. Thank you.
Dear professor, I am writing from Brazil to deeply thank you. The lessons are amazing, not even a minute boring and full of love and beauty. How can we thank you? I specially like the ones about Marx and Freud but have plans to go for Kant next semester. Thank you!
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