Lawrence Cahoone’s “Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida” is brilliantly done. I wish this series of lectures existed when I was first dabbling in philosophy, because the clarity of the explanation of the philosophical ideas and general discussion is such that a high schooler of modest intelligence could understand the lectures. However, the sophistication of this course is such that, with years of academic training in philosophy and years of self-study, I have taken away a few nuggets from the course that I had not known before. Anyone interested in this lecture series should know that, while title claims that it goes from Descartes to Derrida, this was done for alliteration: the course actually covers many of the postmodern thinkers, as well as a responses to postmodernism. One aspect of the lecture series that I think any viewer will appreciate is that Cahoone understands and explains all philosophers and philosophies sympathetically and generously. In fact, I could not determine his philosophical leanings until I researched some of his papers and books. This level of non-dogmatic and unbiased presentation is very rare. Usually, philosophers can’t present an opposing philosopher’s ideas as the opposing philosopher would; moreover, they typically can’t wait to tell you what they think about any given issue. I will say that the viewer should be cautious on one philosophical presentation –that of Nietzsche and his work. It is clear to me that Cahoone did an honest job of presenting every philosopher, but I would maintain that he is guilty of a creative misunderstanding of Nietzsche’s work. Actually, the rationale behind the misunderstanding of Nietzsche’s thought is such that I’d like to know what the source for his understanding is. It could be that he didn’t read much of Nietzsche’s original work and got his Nietzsche from a professor during his education –or possibly even someone like Schopenhauer, which is a big mistake. At any rate, when watching the lecture on Nietzsche, I would definitely be careful about taking anything as a fact. As I said, the misunderstandings and misinterpretations are interesting enough that I was hoping to find their source, though I have not. Having read everything (including notebooks, etc.) that Nietzsche wrote, as well as many contemporary works on Nietzsche (e.g., by Kaufman, Robert C. Solomon, etc.), I hope I’m not being too presumptuous in thinking that it is Cahoone’s understanding of Nietzsche that is outside of the norm. Whatever their origin, Cahoone has interesting things to say. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone short the graduate level of philosophy, but even philosophy grad-level students will find items of interest in this course. I feel that everyone interested in philosophy should know the content that Cahoone presents in this course. I think the people who will get the most bang for their buck will be those who are outside of academic philosophy study, who are interested in getting their bearings within the subject.

Professor Cahoone's Courses are among the best offered by the Teaching Company. Second time watching his lectures and really beginning to appreciate his unbelievable knowledge and teaching skills .