Robert Paul Wolff

When Robert Paul Wolff retired in 2008 after a fifty-year career as a university professor, he was somewhat at a loss as to what to do. One of his sons said, "Why dont you start a blog, Dad?" And so, like hundreds of millions of others around the world, he did. The Philosophers Stone has been running now for more than four years, and Wolff has poured hundreds of thousands of words into the blogosphere. His eight hundred page Autobiography, A Life in the Academy, was originally written day by day for his blog and was posted as it was written. But if the truth be told, Wolff is a teacher more than a blogger, and early on he devised a new format, the "Tutorial," that would permit him to continue what he loves best, explaining difficult ideas in simple and engaging ways to students, colleagues, and readers. In this volume, Wolff has brought together many of these extended explications that he wrote for his blog.Some of the essays are full-scale Tutorials that appeared in fifteen, twenty, or more daily segments. Among these are "The Thought of Karl Marx,""The Thought of Sigmund Freud," and "The Study of Society." Some of Wolffs expositions were concluded more quickly, and he labeled these Mini-Tutorials or Micro-Tutorials. And from time to time, Wolff simply shared his enthusiasm for a particular book in what he called an Appreciation.A sampling of the titles of the essays in this volume give some sense of the breadth of Wolffs interests: Afro-American Studies, Erich Auerbachs Mimesis, Ideological Critique, Max Webers The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, and Kierkegaards Philosophical Fragments, among others.

A delightful journey that takes the author from his second year of life to his seventy-fourth. Along the way, Wolff gives us an inside look at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Columbia, the University of Massachusetts, and a variety of other institutions of higher learning in the United States and South Africa.Wolff met a number of well-known intellectuals and academics, from Bertrand Russell to Henry Kissinger to E.O. Wilson, and he seems to have almost total recall of his interactions with them.Wolff, who is best known around the world for his little tract, In Defense of Anarchism, published twenty-one books and wrote a half dozen others. This compelling memoir offers a vivid picture of the American Academy during what will some day be looked back on as its golden years.

Since its publication in 1971, John Rawls A Theory of Justice has been the subject of a lively debate among philosophers, economists, and political scientists. In this book, Robert Paul Wolff provides an interpretation and critique of Rawls theory that both clarifies it and reveals its basic flaws.According to Professor Wolff, Rawls device of a bargaining game among self-interested parties is designed to solve Kants problem of deriving substantive moral and political principles from purely formal criteria of rationality. This book traces the ever-greater complications introduced by Rawls into his theory to overcome weaknesses and respond to critics. Once he has reconstructed Rawls theory to exhibit its underlying structure, Professor Wolff subjects it to a series of fundamental criticisms and shows where it fails by appealing to economic, psychological, and sociological considerations, as well as to those of philosophy.Understanding Rawls contends that Rawls approach to social philosophy by way of formal models of game theory and welfare economics is fundamentally misguided. The bargaining "theorem" sketched by Rawls is shown to be invalid, and the author suggests that a different mode of analysis, owing more to the legacies of Marx and Freud, would be more fruitful in the search for a usable conception of social justice.

For more than half a century, Philosopher Robert Paul Wolff has been thinking and writing about the great figures of eighteenth century philosophy and about the ideals and realities of American higher education. In this first volume of his collected published and unpublished papers, a number of those writings are collected and made available.The volume opens with Wolffs very earliest published writings, including a letter to the Harvard Crimson that sparked a ten year controversy between two scholars with the same name and diametrically opposed political opinions, and an impassioned defence of Aristotle by the nineteen year old scholar in the pages of Astounding Science Fiction.The volume continues with some of Wolffs well-known writings on David Hume and Immanuel Kant, including a little known essay in which he identifies, in one of Kants late works, the argument for the Categorical Imperative that is missing from the well-known Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. This portion of the volume opens with Wolffs uproarious account, never before seen, of a conference devoted to Kants philosophy of law. For twenty-five years the account has languished in a file marked "unpublishable essay."The volume concludes with many of Wolffs writings on aspects of Higher Education, including the now classic review of Allan Blooms The Closing of the American Mind, said by some to be the best book review ever written.

Political Theory has been transformed in the last thirty years by the introduction of methods of analysis imported from mathematics and economics. Modern students of the subject need to know something about Rational Choice Theory, Game Theory, and Collective Choice Theory if they are to be able to master contemporary discussions. This little book, by well-known philosopher Robert Paul Wolff, lays out the elements of these technical subjects in a precise fashion that achieves a sprightly accessibility without sacrificing formal rigor. In the second part of the book, Wolff applies the formal materials to the writings of John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and others with a penetrating and sceptical wit. A useful supplement to the standard readings in undergraduate and graduate courses.

The Autonomy of Reason reflects Wolffs determination to get out of Kants system what is good and to get out of Kants system for good. Readers will certainly benefit from Wolffs two decades of intense study of Kant. Wolff does not see his task as one of either historical exegesis or philosophical criticism. In the place of both Wolff proposes a "philosophical reconstruction" of the text.

For fifty-five years, Robert Paul Wolff has been reflecting on the theory of modern political society and engaging actively in a number of progressive political movements, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the protest against the Viet Nam War, and the world-wide effort to end the apartheid regime in South Africa. This volume brings together a wide-ranging selection of the writings that have flowed from his pen, his typewriter, and his word processor. The volume opens with a brief Credo for Progressives, in which Wolff forthrightly states the moral and political commitment that has shaped his life and writings.The first section of the volume consists of seven selections of a general theoretical nature, including the essay "On Violence" that foreshadowed Wolffs classic work, In Defense of Anarchism. Three of these: "The Concept of Community,""The Indexing Problem," and "Who Owns Our National Story" have until now not been available in print.The second section of the volume contains ten pieces written about specific people or for specific occasions. These include Wolffs important refutation of the first version of John Rawls theory of justice, a touching personal reminiscence of his departed friend, Herbert Marcuse, a sharp critique of the reaction of the University of Massachusetts to the arrival on campus of Minister Louis Farrakhan, and several memoranda written for a graduate seminar Wolff taught on ideological critique.The third section contains a selection of writings of an immediate practical nature on issues with which Wolff has been deeply involved. The volume closes with a photocopy of a handwritten document in which we see Wolff working out, first hand, an issue of great importance for those who continue to hope for a socialist transformation of capitalism.

This book analyses and explains the central passage of Kants philosophy, the "Transcendental Analytic" of the Critique of Pure Reason. It proceeds in the manner of a textual commentary, discussing and explaining each section of the Analytic in turn. The purpose, however, is not merely to comment chapter by chapter on what Kant has written, but rather to reorganise and interpret his argument so that it is seen as coherent and connected.To this end preliminary versions of the Analytic are actually presented, in formal step-by-step manner, four times in the course of the book. Finally, when the last elements of Kants theory are revealed, a fifth and final version of the argument is presented. This consists of a proof whose premise is the Cartesian proposition, "I think," and whose conclusion is the Causal Maxim. In other words Kant provided a complete proof for the principle of causality, assuming only the minimal premise that man is conscious. In his presentation Mr. Wolff offers a refutation of the clam by some commentators that Kants argument was merely hypothetical or regressive that is, starting with the conclusion and working backwards to the premise.Although the main function of the book is to present this argument it also contains a considerable body of analyses, explanations, and speculations about difficult texts in the Analytic as a whole.

For thirty-five years, Robert Paul Wolff has been carrying on a deep study of the tradition of social and economic theory that started with the French Physiocrats and Adam Smith and was brought to its highest point of development by Karl Marx. Wolff is unique among students of the thought of Marx in his ability to address the philosophical underpinnings of Marxs thought, the formal mathematical reinterpretation of Marxs economic theories carried out in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s by economists around the world, and also the theoretical significance of the extraordinary literary style of Marxs greatest work, Capital. No other scholar has even attempted an integration of these different dimensions of Marxs writings. In these essays and papers, we see Wolff working through the several aspects of Marxs thought and bringing them into fruitful and unified conjuncture.The volume opens with two literary/philosophical readings of Marxs writings, and then turns to the tradition of Classical Political Economy, with detailed analyses of the writings of David Ricardo and his modern interpreter, Piero Sraffa. Included here is Wolffs own original contribution to the modern mathematical reinterpretation of Marxs economic theories, together with responses to Wolffs work by two major modern Marxist thinkers, John Roemer and David Schweickart.In the third section of the volume, Wolff offers penetrating critiques, from a Marxist perspective, of the work of Jon Elster and Hannah Arendt.The volume concludes with a bitter-sweet essay entitled "The Future of Socialism."

This book explains the development of the classical theory of value from Adam Smith to Karl Marx in a form readily accessible to readers unfamiliar with anything more than elementary arithmetic, while at the same time offering to the specialist a fundamental criticism of Marxian political economy and an original and controversial interpretation of Capital. The author clarifies recent mathematical interpretations of classical political economy, so that philosophers, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists interested in Marxs theories can understand the modern rehabilitation of his political economy.In the past quarter of a century economists and policy makers have increasingly concerned themselves with the question of economic growth and the distribution of wealth and income. The classical political economy of Smith, Ricardo, and Max focused directly on these two issues. Understanding Marx contributes to an appreciation of how the fundamental insights of Ricardo and Marx have become directly relevant to policy debates.

Karl Marxs great work, Capital, has intrigued and puzzled readers for more than a century by its mystifyingly intricate arguments and dramatic literary embellishments. In this book, Robert Paul Wolff dispels much of the mystery surrounding Capital by providing a literary-philosophical analysis of the text and of Marxs intentions. Writing in a lively, satirical, sometimes comical style that echoes Marxs own use of language, Wolff shows that Marx was at the very same time and in the very same texts a brilliant theoretical economist and a powerfully imaginative writer and that he deliberately forged an ironic voice in Capital in order to better communicate his theoretical arguments.

Addressing himself not only to radical thinkers but to liberal thinkers as well, Robert Paul Wolff, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, provides here an examination of four concepts central to liberal political concerns: Liberty, Tolerance, Loyalty, and Power. With distinctive precision of thought, Wolff shows how deeply liberals are dedicated to what is for him the "moral disaster" of American politics and for them "stability,""moderation," and "the end of ideology." We need, Wolff states, an ideal of society more exalted than the mere acceptance of opposed interests and diverse customs. We need, moreover, a new philosophy of community, and in his last chapter Wolff undertakes to outline the first steps toward such a philosophy.

El clásico de la filosofía política sobre las contradicciones de la democracia representativa. En 1970, Robert Paul Wolff publicó este breve texto en el que se posicionaba claramente a favor de la escuela del anarquismo filosofico. Se basaba, para ello, en la imposibilidad de conjugar una plena autonomia individual con una autoridad estatal legitimamente moral. El libro vendio mas de doscientos mil ejemplares de la primera tirada, y se convirtio rapidamente en un libro de referencia. Wolff no duda en arremeter contra la democracia liberal representativa, que le parece una solucion insuficiente -ya que nunca representa la voluntad de toda la poblacion- al conflicto entre autoridad y autonomia, y aboga por una participacion directa de los ciudadanos en las decisiones politicas que culmine idealmente en una unanimidad consensuada. Solo asi el poder de los estados sobre los ciudadanos llegaria a ser legitimo. Wolff no ignora, sin embargo, las dificultades de un proyecto como este, que navega en aguas de la utopia. Ante la alienacion de nuestra autonomia individual y el colapso de la legitimidad del Estado, Wolff propone que nos entreguemos al anarquismo en lugar de sacrificar nuestros deseos politicos personales. Robert Paul Wolff (Nueva York, 1933) es un filosofo politico estadounidense y profesor emerito de la Universidad de Massachusetts Amherst. Wolff ha escrito ampliamente sobre cuestiones clave de la filosofia politica, como por ejemplo el marxismo, la tolerancia, el liberalismo, la anarquia y la democracia. Entre sus obras cabe destacar Critica de la tolerancia pura (1965), escrita junto a Herbert Marcuse y Barrington Moore, y su gran exito de ventas En defensa del anarquismo (1970), un clasico de los estudios politicos.La critica ha dicho:Un profundo y provocador debate sobre uno de los temas fundamentales de la filosofia politica, escrito con precision y franqueza, en un estilo que me parece cautivador. Es un libro muy util y bueno. Carl Cohen, autor de Comunismo, fascismo y democracia Una provocadora e interesante introduccion a cuestiones actuales de legitimidad politica, consenso, democracia deliberativa, la base de la regla de la mayoria, colectivos obreros, etc., que han apoyado teoricos politicos contemporaneos. Georgia Warnke, autora de Justicia e interpretacion

El clásico de la filosofía política sobre las contradicciones de la democracia representativa.En 1970, Robert Paul Wolff publicó este breve texto en el que se posicionaba claramente a favor de la escuela del anarquismo filosofico. Se basaba, para ello, en la imposibilidad de conjugar una plena autonomia individual con una autoridad estatal legitimamente moral. El libro vendio mas de doscientos mil ejemplares de la primera tirada, y se convirtio rapidamente en un libro de referencia.Wolff no duda en arremeter contra la democracia liberal representativa, que le parece una solucion insuficiente -ya que nunca representa la voluntad de toda la poblacion- al conflicto entre autoridad y autonomia, y aboga por una participacion directa de los ciudadanos en las decisiones politicas que culmine idealmente en una unanimidad consensuada. Solo asi el poder de los estados sobre los ciudadanos llegaria a ser legitimo. Wolff no ignora, sin embargo, las dificultades de un proyecto como este, que navega en aguas de la utopia. Ante la alienacion de nuestra autonomia individual y el colapso de la legitimidad del Estado, Wolff propone que nos entreguemos al anarquismo en lugar de sacrificar nuestros deseos politicos personales.Robert Paul Wolff (Nueva York, 1933) es un filosofo politico estadounidense y profesor emerito de la Universidad de Massachusetts Amherst. Wolff ha escrito ampliamente sobre cuestiones clave de la filosofia politica, como por ejemplo el marxismo, la tolerancia, el liberalismo, la anarquia y la democracia. Entre sus obras cabe destacar Critica de la tolerancia pura (1965), escrita junto a Herbert Marcuse y Barrington Moore, y su gran exito de ventas En defensa del anarquismo (1970), un clasico de los estudios politicos.La critica ha dicho: Un profundo y provocador debate sobre uno de los temas fundamentales de la filosofia politica, escrito con precision y franqueza, en un estilo que me parece cautivador. Es un libro muy util y bueno. Carl Cohen, autor de Comunismo, fascismo y democraciaUna provocadora e interesante introduccion a cuestiones actuales de legitimidad politica, consenso, democracia deliberativa, la base de la regla de la mayoria, colectivos obreros, etc., que han apoyado teoricos politicos contemporaneos. Georgia Warnke, autora de Justicia e interpretacion