My Stuff

https://umass-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/rwolff_umass_edu/EkxJV79tnlBDol82i7bXs7gBAUHadkylrmLgWbXv2nYq_A?e=UcbbW0

Coming Soon:

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Now Available: Volumes I, II, III, and IV of the Collected Published and Unpublished Papers.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."





Total Pageviews

Monday, December 4, 2023

A PURELY PERSONAL OBSERVATION

In recent months, my Parkinson's has worsened to the point at which I find it very difficult to walk at all. Fortunately, the little electric powered scooter that I purchased from another resident here makes it very easy for me to get around the apartment and even to go down to the main building to have dinner each evening. What is really odd is that cognitivelly I seem unchanged. I spend a great deal of time thinking about the study group that I shall lead at Harvard starting at the beginning of February on volume 1 of Capital, I re-read old essays I have written, I follow the world news obsessively, and although I am of course slowed down a good deal from what I was in the late 1960s, when I was teaching at Columbia, I feel unchanged cognitively. In three weeks I shall be 90 years old and yet in my mind I feel 50 or 60.


Life is strange.

15 comments:

s. wallerstein said...

As one ages, with luck one manages the information which supports one's worldview or mindset as efficiently and as lucidly as one did when one was young.

However, first of all, the mindset is more or less fixed. That's not true at age 18 or even at age 30.

Let's take my age, 77. Could I learn a difficult foreign language, say, Chinese or Arabic, at my age? I don't think so, but I certainly could have learned one when I was younger.

How would I do if I were to take the SAT's or the GRE's again? I'd score less than I did when younger, I'm fairly sure.

Could I read and assimilate a difficult author whom I've never read, say, Hegel. No way, although that could be in part because I don't believe that Hegel has much to say to me. Still when younger, I would have been more open to seeing what Hegel has to say to me.

Being less open has to do with one's mindset becoming fixed or more rigid, which I noted above. At an advanced age one has a mental capital, so to speak and if one is lucky and careful, one can preserve that capital, but there's no space for new risky mental investments.

Jim said...

Professor Wolff --

I think it was Plato who once complained about how the physical body becomes a drag on the more important process of cognitive activity. It is a pain in the ass (literally) that we have to necessarily spend time going to the bathroom, eating, sleeping, etc., when we could be using that time for constructive study.

Contra Wallerstein, I think we MUST provide space for "new risky mental investments," otherwise, what is the point? The last thing we want to do is disregard those that we feel are beyond saving, beyond hope. I don't ever want to feel that way. So let's keep the door (mind) open as far and as long as we can.

-- Jim

David Zimmerman said...

A disappointing debunk of what would have been very good news.... Always check your sources!

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nejm-study-most-productive-age/

s. wallerstein said...

David Zimmerman,

Thanks.

You should send it to Leiter because he posted the same unreliable data asking for reader feedback.

David Zimmerman said...

No need--- Two commenters sent him the link to Snopes.

Mikey said...

Professor Wolff,

You have been quoted on a blog for a quote about Quine in a biography of J.L. Austin: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/12/weird-anecdotes-about-philosophers-connected-to-oxford.html

Michael Llenos said...

Maybe tonight's little stab of mine at a Philosophical Proof for God's Existence will give you some time to divert your thoughts & forget your troubles presently.

"St. Paul says that the Foolishness of God is greater than the Wisdom of Men. So in the like manner the Death of God is greater than the Life of Men. So because God is so much greater than Men, he must exist, since even Men do partake of life at times. Therefore, if Men partake of life at times, then God must partake of life always and exist always. So just by stating the axiom 'God is Dead' that statement automatically proves that God must necessarily exist and always because God is so much greater than Men."

Michael Llenos said...

Let me insert 'idea' to make this statement more objective...

Maybe tonight's little stab of mine at a Philosophical Proof for God's Existence will give you some time to divert your thoughts & forget your troubles presently.

"St. Paul says that the Foolishness of God is greater than the Wisdom of Men. So in the like manner the Death of God is greater than the Life of Men. So because the idea of God is so much greater than Men, that idea must exist, since even Men do partake of life at times. Therefore, if Men partake of life at times, then the idea of God must partake of life always and exist always. So just by stating the axiom 'God is Dead' that statement automatically proves that God must necessarily exist and always because the idea of God is so much greater than the existence of Men."

Michael Llenos said...

'If the idea of God is so much greater than the idea of Men. And if in the idea of Men is the reality that Men sometimes exist, then, in the idea of God, exists the reality that God exists always in reality. That is because the idea of God is infinitely greater than the idea of Men. This is because Men are finite in idea, and God is infinite in idea. Therefore Men are finite & God is infinite.'

Michael Llenos said...

'If the idea of God is so much greater than the idea of Men, and if inside the idea of Men is the reality that Men sometimes exist, then, in the idea of God, exists the reality that God exists always in reality. That is because the idea of God is infinitely greater than the idea of Men. This is because Men are finite in idea, and God is infinite in idea. Therefore Men are finite & God is infinite.'

David Zimmerman said...

Existence is not a predicate.

Michael Llenos said...

'Kant goes on to write, "'being' is evidently not a real predicate" and cannot be part of the concept of something. He proposes that existence is not a predicate, or quality. This is because existence does not add to the essence of a being, but merely indicates its occurrence in reality.'--Wikipedia

The only problem with this thinking is existence could be a dual part of reality. Existence could indicate it's occurrence in reality & also be a quality. Otherwise this is just a Philosophical war of words. Do we know the full spectrum of what being and existence truly are? No we don't. Authorities label it but don't know it fully. I could be wrong, but also Kant could be wrong.

Michael Llenos said...

Whose erasing my post?

Pedro Taylor ✅ said...

🇧🇷🇮🇴🇻🇬🇧🇳🇧🇼🇧🇦🇧🇴🇧🇹Highly Recommended!
Very insightful, i will also say this here. Investment is one of the best ways to achieve financial freedom. For a beginner there are so many challenges you face. It's hard to know how to get started. Trading on the Cryptocurrency market has really been a life changer for me. I almost gave up on crypto at some point not until saw a recommendation on Elon musk successfully success story and I got a proficient trader/broker Mr Bernie Doran , he gave me all the information required to succeed in trading. I made more profit than I could ever imagine. I'm not here to converse much but to share my testimony; I have made total returns of 3.6BTC from an investment of just 0.6BTC. Thanks to Mr Bernie I'm really grateful,I have been able to make a great returns trading with his signals and strategies .I urge anyone interested in
INVESTMENT to take bold step in investing in the Cryptocurrency Market, you can reach him on WhatsApp : +1(424) 285-0682 or his Gmail : BERNIEDORANSIGNALS@GMAIL.COM, bitcoin is taking over the world, tell him I referred you🇧🇭🇧🇩🇧🇧🇧🇾🇧🇸🇦🇿🇦🇹

MICHAEL said...

CRYPTO SCAM ALERT! Don't Fall Victim Like I Did!


WARNING to all cryptocurrency investors! I'm sharing my horrific experience to save others from financial ruin. I lost a staggering $254,780 to David, a smooth-talking, self-proclaimed crypto expert, through the fake broker Cryptonet (.com). The promised returns were a LIE!. But here's the twist! I got my money back, AND the profits he promised, thanks to the experts at JetWebHackers! Their professionalism and expertise saved me from financial devastation. Don't trust unverified investments! Verify thoroughly and report suspicious activities. Cryptonet (.com) and David are SCAMMERS!

reach out to JETWEBHACKERS, on their

EMAIL:jetwebhackers@gmail.com

TELEGRAM: @jetwebhackers

WHATSAPP: +1 (704) 252-2290