Short Introduction (By Dr Giangiuseppe Pili) Professor Robert Paul Wolff is an American philosopher, professor of philosophy at several institutions such as the University of Massachusetts. His interests span from the history of philosophy to Marxism and Anarchy. He is an accomplished author of already classic books such as In Defense of Anarchism (1970), Kant’s Theory of Mental Activity (1962), and The Autonomy of Reason (1974). Some of Wolff’s books are translated in Italian by one of the best publishers in Italy (Einaudi) and are available on the main Italian repositories. Wolff writes in his own blog, which we kindly suggest following. Finally, we strongly suggest to watch the amazing Wolff’s lectures on Kant, Marx, Hume, and other topics already available on YouTube. I must confess that I simply found them spectacular, clear, and exceptionally enjoyable. When professor Wolff replied to me accepting to go through an interview, I was simply excited. And it is with my distinct pleasure to publish his short essay on Scuola Filosofica – which – for who doesn’t know it yet, is one of the leading philosophical blogs in Italy. In the name of Scuola Filosofica Team, our readers, and myself, Professor Wolff: thank you!
Professor Giangiuseppe posed a series of questions as the basis for this interview, but rather than answering them directly I would like instead to take the opportunity to reflect on what being a philosopher has meant to me ever since I took my first philosophy course seventy years ago as a sixteen year old freshman at Harvard University.