Skills you'll gain

There are 14 modules in this course

Topics you’ll learn about will include: Epistemology, where we’ll consider what our knowledge of the world and ourselves consists in, and how we come to have it; Philosophy of science, where we’ll investigate foundational conceptual issues in scientific research and practice; Philosophy of Mind, where we’ll ask questions about what it means for something to have a mind, and how minds should be understood and explained; Political Philosophy, where we'll investigate whether we have an obligation to obey the law; Moral Philosophy, where we’ll attempt to understand the nature of our moral judgements and reactions – whether they aim at some objective moral truth, or are mere personal or cultural preferences, and; Metaphysics, where we’ll think through some fundamental conceptual questions about free will and the nature of reality. The development of this MOOC has been led by the University of Edinburgh's Eidyn research centre. To accompany 'Introduction to Philosophy', we are pleased to announce a tie-in book from Routledge entitled 'Philosophy for Everyone'. This course companion to the 'Introduction to Philosophy' course was written by the Edinburgh Philosophy team expressly with the needs of MOOC students in mind. 'Philosophy for Everyone' contains clear and user-friendly chapters, chapter summaries, glossary, study questions, suggestions for further reading and guides to online resources. Please click "Start Here" and navigate to the "Optional Reading" page for more information. This course is also available with captions in Chinese: https://www.coursera.org/learn/zhexue-daolun

Morality: Objective, Relative or Emotive?

What is Knowledge? And Do We Have Any?

Week 2 review: Lesson Choices

Do We Have an Obligation to Obey the Law?

Should You Believe What You Hear?

Week 3 review: Lesson Choices

Minds, Brains and Computers

Are Scientific Theories True?

Week 4 review: Lesson Choices

Do We Have Free Will and Does It Matter?

Time Travel and Philosophy

Week 5 review: Lesson Choices

Peer review

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