Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Robert Paul Wolff Lecture 1

Follow Robert Paul Wolff on his blog: robertpaulwolff.blogspot.com/

[@yourhealinghome8812]

This man, Robert Paul Wolff is a human treasure. I am in my 60th year now; spent my life in industrial steel fabrication, and now using youtube to expand my academic background a bit, and understand something more of the world, and the history of thought. A little philosophy seems like a nice thing to have some exposure to, so why not watch a little college on TV, right? WHOA - - man this gets so deep, it's frightening! But what a JEWEL of a man to spend time with; digging in and picking it apart. I expect the depth of this material will be beyond my ability to fully comprehend, but Dr. Wolff's storytelling approach, his humor, his humility, and his humanity makes his class a JOY to witness. Thank you, professor, for your gift to the world.

[@nathanielpitts8667]

He’s great.

[@nathanielpitts8667]

That’s a proper philosopher there.

[@lizlaureys8163]

Source? "Beatty?"

[@lizlaureys8163]

What are you referring to?

[@lizlaureys8163]

What does one scholar do to defend their dissertation?

[@tergre54]

"Seated behind a little desk, (he) spoke in a conversational tone, in a low voice, and very rarely indulged in gesture, but he enlivened his discourse with humour and abundant illustrations. His aim was to teach his students to think for themselves." No, not Prof Wolff. This is Somerset Maugham on Kant.

[@strobe4565]

My god what a ride. His knowledge of philosophy combined with his storytelling prowess almost made me feel like I was watching a techno enlightenment thriller.

[@dpanagore]

RPW was the professor in my first college philosophy course, I took as many classes as I could with him until I graduated (only took five years 😉) and he never disappointed. Spawned my life long interest in philosophy .

[@onixz100]

How outstanding. What an outstanding lecture. I will be following these every single week; you are doing a great service to humanity.

[@theomanahan8591]

That is true!

[@jamesbarlow6423]

It's all intro. We've gone nowhere.

[@bluesky45299]

Quran says: “Allah:there is no deity worthy of worship except he”:The Neccessary life/consciousness,sustainer of life/consciousness.” Wire like neuronal structures that conduct electricity via ions/neurotransmitters in the CNS/PNS possess no attribute of thinking/life and yet that has “randomly” led to life. Consciousness/thinking is an innate idea(“Fitra”)that is distinct from carbon skeleton and yet the materialist scientist believes that chemistry turned into biology via “god of randomness”/”Emergent property”/”law of nature”. Consciousness can only stem from Necessary Consciousness (Allah-one/indivisible/loving/self-sufficient perfection.

[@jessjohnson998]

I put this on as something to listen to while playing a game and then it was more interesting than the game. Thank you so much for letting us listen for free.

[@AndrewAme]

coming back to these lectures for the nth time since I found them 4 years ago. eternally grateful for their posting.

[@chillingotakus5104]

I Kant believe how good these lectures are.

[@abelphilosophy4835]

Chilling Otakus 😆

[@emotionalrangeofofateaspoo4092]

nice one

[@9Ballr]

When I was an undergraduate I once took a graduate course with Bob Wolff on Hume's Treatise. He enjoyed telling stories as much then (in 1988) as he did still in 2016. I recall also that among his favorite words at the time were "fatuous," "maudlin," and "jejune," and my vocabulary increased exponentially during that time. It was a great course, and I went on to get a doctorate in philosophy and become a philosophy professor. It's a wonderful thing that his talks here on Kant's first Critique are available publicly.

[@hjalmarschacht2559]

What a magnificent, COOL professor. He knows Kant, Marx, Lead Belly and Lords of the Ring plus God knows what else. He is an icon. Instructors like this are hard to come by. I am looking forward to watching the rest of his lectures.

[@myusernameusedtobereallycr2075]

What did he say the reading was again?

[@mostlynewfies]

Wow! I've just come across this for the first time today while looking for thoughts on Kant, and I'm hooked. What a talented, intelligent individual with fantastic storytelling. The world needs more people like this.

[@fernandaolivera5595]

I found him unbearable to listen to. When he's not telling a pointless story he's stuttering or going off on a tangent. Horrible lecture.

[@PiousParable]

I'm stunned at how much fun I'm having watching and digesting this material. Thank you Dr. Wolff

[@dorjehundertandeight5095]

I can’t express the deep Joy I felt listening to you, Man.

[@JoePalau]

I remember when his book on mental activity first came out. I read it every day for weeks. It was amazing and thrilling. Now I can see him on YT. Thank You!!

[@testiclay89]

I very much appreciate this being available! Thank you to all.

[@craigburns5762]

Really liked that parable at the beginning; one to remember.

[@eipiplusone3791]

Thank you for these lectures, professors!

[@abellizandro3550]

What a humble and insightful gentleman

[@AlexCruceruPhotography]

I would listen to your course over and over, it is illuminating. Thank you for sharing!

[@robertpapps5383]

Backed into a curiosity about Kant due to my recent readings on the history of psychoanalysis. Looking forward to the lectures.

[@HeronMarkBlade]

what a find! excellent lecture, looking forward to the rest!

[@elihuyale8107]

Such a great lecture series. Thank you for these distillations and illuminating explanations.

[@blairhakamies4132]

Thank you Professor. Thank you organizers for making it available. 🌹

[@craigbryant3191]

The framing is terrible, the sound is poor, there's a fan running the whole time...and it is pure gold, worth ten dollars a minute. I'm watching a lecture, doing the reading, then watching the lecture a second time. Fantastic stuff, just fantastic.

[@johnbolin6571]

Thank you, Professor Wolff. A tour de force.

[@AP-ve8kz]

These are great. Thank you so much!

[@MrRichygm]

Wonderful lecture. Held my attention in a vice.

[@johnnywilley8522]

Wow. How luck we are to have this. Thank you for making & posting this!

[@Ayala252]

These lectures are a privilege and a pleasure. Drawn to them again and again. Thank you.

[@farhadsharifi1628]

thank you Alex, will be following the lectures. just watched the 1st one.

[@nathanielpitts8667]

Extremely grateful to have found these lectures. Thanks.

[@joshpowers4795]

thank you for time stamping - these lectures are wonderful

[@oldschoolsaint]

Wow. So engaging. So knowledgeable. So clear. I'm hooked.

[@Tom-le3yy]

Wow, Robert Paul Wolff you are absolutely amazing.

[@majdk6483]

What a precious enjoyable hour! appreciated efforts 🌷🌷 thanks ❤️

[@videodaniel8945]

I have to say, for some reason I love Profesor Wolff's little stories. I find them interesting and also sweet. They make him such an interesting lecturer to listen. I hope someday I will have the experience and prestige to be able to do something similar with my own students.

[@chandraraj9092]

Important new insights into Kant's Critique!

[@humanbeing7072]

Thank you Dr. Wolff! You are amazing. Thank you for uploading these videos for the greater good. I love philosophy so much!

[@levkawright2403]

My deepest gratitude for uploading this and for Wolff's incredible mind. He makes this lecture so enjoyable and piques my interest to further investigate Kant. I only wish for everyone to experience such an engaged and intelligent professor.

[@YommiOfficial]

Simply phenomenal... How have I barely found these? Exactly 1 year after they've been uploaded as well. Another great lecture series on Kant is the one by Dan Robinson.

[@paulvalentine4157]

Proof I am an idiot. This seems more like a history lesson than a working through the text, which I can not penetrate.

[@frankfeldman6657]

@@paulvalentine4157 Try the Arthur Holmes lectures, the Wheaton College series.

[@edwardwoods3097]

“Simply phenomenal “ lol An unconscious pun. If you know Kant you may find that funny.

[@GiselaCasuso]

Kant's Critique of Pure Reason so clear and yet, precise and unsimplified. I'm looking forward to listening to the next video. Thank you so much!

[@danielcoimbra8642]

Exciting lecture. I loved the mix of philosophy and backstories. I'm taking a course on the Critique in State University of Campinas, here in Brazil, and the lectures here are also stimulating. And the book is marvelous, though sometimes Kant's prose is infuriating. I'm having a blast this semester!

[@Trmwnn]

That’s so mentally energising! It’s my first time listening to the professor but I could tell he is an absolute asset for academia. Thank you, Professor

[@literarylapsed]

I’m coming back to academic study of philosophy after a decade of working in another field, and this professor is my lifesaver! Thank you

[@_shmeezy]

Fantastic lecture series and surely the most complete and approachable analysis of the Critique available on youtube.

[@tayday424]

Great lecture, great lecturer. This is a guy who is used to knowing what he's talking about.

[@user-nk3ly5ne5n]

Incredible lecture sir. Thank you from Iraq. 🌹

[@satanic_rosa]

Thank you professor for remembering the people watching this video at 11:56

[@jrjr54321]

Obviously this man is a treasure, but actually repeating the question from the student for the recording? Absolutely brilliant and far too often omitted.

[@daipayanghosh8025]

magnificent, amazing, a great wok done by a great professor...a really helpful for students.

[@user-vs6eb2zw2s]

This is such a fantastic lecture . 👍

[@comradefrater8976]

Amazing lecture, when I get my grubby mits on a copy of The Critique of PR & your book I'll definitely go through this. Your explanations are very cohesive & probably can't be found elsewhere on the internet.

[@petersantospago1966]

He's a funny dude! And incredibly knowledgeable... I've got the book and some others from him... It is freaking hard to comprehend.... But Robert explains things very well... We're fortunate to have him... And for free!!

[@senymaharjan9807]

You made things more easy thank you .........

[@Gbebehdnd]

Great work, please keep the videos coming.

[@hjalmarschacht2559]

THANK YOU Dr. Wolff for taking the time to teach this course. I am a chemist but I love Kant. And you, sir, are an engaging, very interesting, masterful lecturer. It is a privilege to listen to you. I look forward to watching your next lecture, but first I need to complete the reading assignment you gave. By the way, I was able to purchase a hard cover copy of your book printed in 1957 in mint condition which I look forward to reading as well.

[@lightarmor753]

You’re amazing. Bought your book. Thank you for these lectures

[@wilderr]

thanks for posting these

[@Cantbuyathrill]

I love this guy!!!

[@HaikuMalta]

I sincerely, thank you for these :)

[@gw5819]

Thank you for sharing this lectures

[@meir4586]

wow, excited to start this course

[@RiSkAtE]

Thank you for making this series available on youtube. I'm not a student of Philosophy or ever was but i always wanted to read this marvelous book, and now i can follow along with Robert's insights. Once again thank you and keep it up.

[@lapipesmoker3751]

I think you are a student now as are we all.

[@PiousParable]

This is phenomenal....how did I stumble across this?

[@maneatfoot8693]

This is really quite amazing. I'm interested!

[@sotirissalloumis6129]

Thanks for sharing.

[@gitchegumee3726]

Keep teaching if you are able. Much appreciated

[@playlistaccount]

Thank you for these

[@jeroenlale3458]

loving the videos! Hopefully you're doing good, sir!

[@nothingatall8689]

I love this guy

[@moratgurgeh]

This is great, thanks

[@shitpostadmiralty2921]

Working on my aerodynamics homework with this lecture playing. Easy both to listen to and extremely informative. Cheers!

[@taichen2376]

Half way through the lecture he says he taught at Duke?? I hear he mentions Chapel hill, is he in UNC now? It must have been before my time. I would have loved to sit in his class and listen to these lectures in person. Really amazing to learn from these lifers who dedicated their entire lives to the pursuit of wisdom.

[@luoduwz9789]

太精彩了！！！(It is so execellent!)

[@lindascanlan6317]

The sound is horrible The lecture is divine.... Worth putting up with the background noise

[@dragancer]

this is great

[@jimjiminy76]

Dr. Wolff hitting that shit hard. Amazing!

[@ericgamful]

Lecture 2, 35:30 really starts explaining the Critique!

[@davidgamble4086]

Thanks. I bought your book.

[@timblackburn1593]

Thanks for the certainty of weeks of pleasure ahead...Ibn Rushd makes the 3-step evolution from rhetoric to dialectic to reason/demonstration, why in spite of all of this do our leaders fail to evolve beyond the 1st step? Who, for example, do the thugs of UKIP serve? - posed thanks to the light of this lectures beautiful explanation of the classical meaning of dialectic.

[@roymerritt6992]

"Good Night Irene".

[@jram2580]

This is great, I hope you keep it up!

[@austintillman8297]

I'm listening to this so that I can get more out of Kant before I get to Schopenhauer. This is going to take ages 😂😂

[@boardpassenger1483]

Thank you!

[@Thomasw540]

This is an excellent and thorough presentation of Kant and the Categorical Imperative. It would be my hope that every Biden voter would review the series in order to further validate the wisdom of the leap of faith they took with their vote for Biden and to validate their rejection of all things Reagan/Trump Conservative as integral to the January 6 conspiracy as legacy of William F. Buckley's marketing strategy for the 1960 agenda of the John Birch Society. In terms of the practical effect the Categorical Imperative has on contemporary inquiry, the Myers Briggs Type Inventory derives directly from its cognitive structures and represents the nature of the human personality as a paradox composed of the synthesis of the rational, the irrational and behavior. It is reliable instrumentation for any program of individuation on the basis that the unexamined life isn't worth living. The thing I don't understand about Wolff, as representative of formal academic contemporary inquiry is his antipathy towards Hegel. He claims, perhaps ironically, of being a Marxist, but you can't be a Marxist and not embrace Hegel as not only historic method but as the basis of action research, moving forward. The issue isn't to employ Hegel to understand Marx but that Marx employed Hegel to anticipate history. Let me put it this way: in the final analysis, Vietnam came down to a contest between Marxism and the Harvard MBA program and Marxism won, primarily because the godless commie cocksuckers in Hanoi understood Hegel and the Harvard Business School ignores Hegel. A consequence is that we have had 40 years of class warfare originating in the deliberate decadence of the Supply-Side policies of Reaganomics which people like Scott Adams has determined to be the ideological hill to die on defending. The problem with Marxism is that nobody at the time understood chaos or even recognize it existed as an essential to any organically heathy economic ecology. Chaos requires the 4th Law of Logic that paradox cannot be reduced to faithfully render a portrait of any slice of any zeitgeist as a dynamically active society. I have read Kant, Hegel and Marx, but I have never studied them in the manner Wolff presents them in this series, which is a thing of beauty. This is why you get a liberal arts education, to be around minds suck as these. However, because I have had a working relationship with the Holy Spirit since 1953, I intuitively embraced the Categorical Imperative as exactly the epistemology of a universal nature. Don't get bogged down in the details of Kant and Hegel: you don't need to understand voltage and amperes to use electricity. The Army Ranger School employs Hegel to teach small unit leadership and experiential learning and role play to enrich the cognitive skills of the individual expression of the Categorical Imperative. In particular, the dynamical modeling of Paul Krugman's "Peddling Prosperity" is Hegelian is aspect and will allow America to jettison the decadent burden of all things Reaganomics and restore the pre-Reagan constitutional capitalism that pulled the world out of the global disaster of two industrial wars. And the MBTI is a tool for the individual to Become All You Can Be as a work in process. But the most important thing is to understand the wisdom in your leap of faith in voting for Biden as we complete the paradigm shift from the global Military-Industrial Complex to the Starship Capitalism that Apollo 11 made possible, Werner von Braun described and Affirmative Action nearly achieved when Reagan was elected and the crypto-Nazis of Reaganomics began to dismantle Affirmative Action and tne New Deal. The thing is, Harvard still doesn't understand its role in the defeat of the Republic of Vietnam and its connection to Robert McNamara, If we actually lapse into an avoidable recession at this moment, it will because everybody will try to employ the Harvard MBA program business model to fix the problem it created. Dilbert must die to save the world.

[@PonyPhuckcast]

outstanding lecture

[@wilwoodadams5799]

Great introduction. I would certainly want to hear more of what he has to say about Kant. He has referred to Kant through out his presentation as the greatest philosopher. What really does he mean by greatest? In what sense is he using the word? What would he say about Plato and Aristotle, philosophers whose works have that broad universal sweep from earth to heaven?

[@sammueltumbela4190]

so great professor i really enjoy ur lessons

[@superflyrico]

sammuel tumbela read up on Kants racism and see if you still appreciate this stuff?

[@Oners82]

"read up on Kants racism and see if you still appreciate this stuff?" He appreciation was for the talent of the professor and of Kant's METAPHYSICS, not Kant's racial views so quit with the silly strawman attacks.

[@user-yx2uw6lh7d]

Aristotle believed in natural slavery, and yet we still believe in his formulation of ethics (apart from that ofcourse)

[@LearningAdventuresFun]

Amazing !

[@Tinydude10]

Fantastic timing, I just got a copy of the Critique last week and was planning on digging in during the rest of the year. Love the lecture, very clear setup for the analysis so far and the professor's stories are an absolute treat :). Please keep it up!

[@natnar6181]

how did you get on?

[@Tinydude10]

@@natnar6181 Working (quite often struggling) through that book was unironically one of the most satisfying intellectual experiences of my life. It took me several months, but Kant's elaborate arguments and laborious system-building feel like mental mountain climbing - tough while you're on the slopes, but there's nothing quite like getting a glimpse of the top. If you haven't tackled it yourself, I recommend using these lectures as an accompaniment - professor Wolff very clearly illuminates some obscure passages. I also complemented it with Sebastian Gardner's Routledge Guide to the Critique, which I can heartily recommend in addition. Professor Wolff doesn't go through the entire book in these lectures, so I just looked for whatever outside help was available. Far from a luxury with Kant's work.

[@natnar6181]

@@Tinydude10 wow thank you for the reply 5 years later! I am going to buy a copy in a few weeks after my birthday, big 17! i hope to use this is like part of a “read books” type thing when applying for philosophy at university next year! I will use these lectures then if you recommend them and have a look at the other resource you mentioned! if i struggle too much i can always shelve it for as long as i want, i’m keeping that mentality to keep me motivated to finally read and finish it. Thanks again for the reply :)

[@Tinydude10]

@@natnar6181 You're brave to tackle this at 17, I don't think I would've stuck with it at that age! As you mentioned though, you can always return to it later if it proves too much to swallow on the first go. The mere experience of digging into the text is a worthwhile effort in itself, I think. Just a heads-up though, the Critique is notoriously difficult, and Kant basically assumes a broad knowledge of the philosophy which preceded him. I don't know what your background is, but I personally prepared for my reading by studying some of the philosophers Kant interacts with. As professor Wolff explains, Kant's effort was in part an attempt at reconciling two major schools of philosophy which were at something of an impasse: continental rationalism (made famous by the likes of Leibniz, Descartes and Spinoza) and British empiricism (represented by David Hume, John Locke and George Berkeley, among others). If you're serious about philosophy and want to really grasp what you're reading, definitely make sure you have at least a rudimentary understanding of their ideas (Leibniz and Hume in particular). Again, I don't know what your educational background is, but there are plenty of great introductory guides available on all of them. You'll also likely find the works of the likes of Hume and Descartes quite a bit easier to stomach than Kant. I'm happy to give you some more recommendations if you're interested, as you can probably tell I just love talking about this stuff :).

[@natnar6181]

@@Tinydude10 I have Hume's "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding", which i was planning to finish reading before i read the critique as i understand it as a key empiricist text? I have little other knowledge on epistemology (from my understanding thats what these thinkers, as well as the critique?, fall under) and was wondering would it be beneficial for me to read a rationalist text as well. As you explained the critique involves both empiricism and rationalism. I am not familiar with rationalists or Leibniz particularly as you specified, are there any essential books on that side of the thinking i should read? Thank you so much again for these replies this all has me very excited to potentially study philosophy at a higher academic level =)

[@NelsonPascuzzi]

Oh boy, literally started my reading of the critique last week. Hopefully I'll be able to follow along without getting too distracted by other books (as is my perpetual problem)

[@NelsonPascuzzi]

Update, like 18 months after the comment, i finished the critique. Much thanks to RPW and our honorable uploader.

[@matteomisurati4281]

Thanks!

[@teont249]

Very nice.

[@ToriKo_]

30:00. If I remember right he’s talking about how Kant’s doctorate was about the British empiricists (experience, experiments, senses) vs the continental rationalists (rationale - 2+2). He said they were both right, but they made the same assumption of independent reality. He disagreed with this later when he read Hume.

[@eleventhisland]

Awesome lecture so far excited to watch the rest of the series but damn the ads on this gonna have me getting KZbin premium 😂

[@leighwinfield750]

Thank you

[@meowwwww6350]

Awesome 😎

[@DouglasHPlumb]

Kant is brilliant and if more people understood Kant we would live in a very different world. When I read these comments, I'm happy that so many people love Kant. My favorite is the last part of the 3rd where he really finishes off the first and better explains the antinomies. Its the most difficult read in all of Kant. I didn't read contradictions when I read the first - it all made perfect sense - 45 minutes per page and it had better. I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say regarding contradictions. Wheaton College has a series on History Of Philosophy, the section on Kant, 3 lectures, was very well done - the best I've seen yet. Oxford has a series of ten lectures on Kant's first critique.

[@superflyrico]

Doug Plumb except we do live in a world influenced by Kant, and his blindly racist views for instance, a man who had never left his home city or actually met people of dark skin can not seriously claim to be an authority on race...a false construct to elevate the status of light skinned humans over darker skinned humans. Sad that he's unjustly worshipped over TRUE men and women of the world, who can and could back then back up their theories and thinking with life experience and hard facts...sad people still haven't woken up to blindly following eugenics ideas and the rest.

[@DouglasHPlumb]

I know Kant was a racist, but so were lots of people, including blacks. Blacks are not the only victims of racism. Blacks and Jews and Arabs bought and sold blacks, not white Christians. Its White Christians that emancipated everyone from slavery.

[@DouglasHPlumb]

Kant was an academic, looking for truth outside of experience - absolute truth.

[@DouglasHPlumb]

Some Christians were involved in the slave trade but overwhelmingly it was a Jewish enterprise. No shortage of Christians that will sell out for their 30 pcs of silver but Jews owned the ships that brought blacks to America as slaves. The Jewish slave trade continued up until 2006 where they were no longer permitted to bring young women in, steal their passports and put them to work in brothels or whatever. Only Jews have had legal slave trading and that very recently ended.

[@DouglasHPlumb]

You aren't exactly hearing on the News about Israeli brothels being busted and those poor women being sent home. Nor are we hearing from any that have come back, unless they escaped. So its an unenforced law.

[@GMMras]

thank you

[@lindascanlan6317]

Bravo 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

[@itssanti]

That Newton's mouthpiece comment just killed me