It is with
sadness that we mark the passing of Robert Paul Wolff on January 6 of this year
in Durham, North Carolina. Professor Wolff
is best known in the Kant world for two influential books, Kant’s Theory of
Mental Activity (1963) and The Autonomy of Reason (1974). He also wrote a great deal on political
philosophy from a Marxist perspective, critiquing political liberalism in The
Poverty of Liberalism (1968), arguing in favor of anarchism in In Defense
of Anarchism (1969), taking particular aim at Rawl’s Theory of Justice
in his Understanding Rawls (1977), and commenting on the works of Karl
Marx in Marx: A Reconstruction and
Critique of Capital (1984) and Moneybags
Must Be So Lucky: On the Structure of Capitol (1988).
Professor Wolff
also wrote a book arguing for the self-governance of universities and, quite presciently,
against the marketization and external interference of universities in The
Ideal of the University (1969). In a
reflection of his deep political convictions, Professor Wolff left the University
of Massachusetts-Amherst Philosophy Department for that universities Department
of Afro-American Studies, and wrote about it in Autobiography of an Ex-White
Man: Learning a New Master Narrative for America (2005). He
also founded USSAS, University Scholarships for South African Students, in
1990, which has helped more than 1,200 disadvantaged students in South Africa
receive higher education in that country.
Professor Wolff
earned his BA, MA and PhD in Philosophy at Harvard and taught at Harvard from
1958-1961. He was then Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago 1961-1964, Associate
Professor at Columbia University 1964-1971, Professor in the Philosophy Department
at UM-Amherst 1971-1992, the Department of Afro-American Studies there in 1992-2008,
and then Professor Emeritus.
Professor Wolff was politically engaged his
entire adult life. In addition to his transferring to the Department of
Afro-American Studies at UM- Amherst and founding USSAS, he was at the forefront
arguing for nuclear disarmament in the 1950s and 60s, against the war in Viet
Nam in the 1960s and 70s, supporting students who occupied Low Library at
Columbia University in 1968, and arguing against apartheid in South Africa in
the 1980s and 90s. His commitment to living
a life that reflected his beliefs and values remains an inspiration.More information
can be found at the following links:
https://professorsemeritus.columbia.edu/people/robert-p-wolff-1933-2025
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/robert-wolff-obituary?id=57223118
