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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Philosophy by The University of Edinburgh

4.7
stars
9,093 ratings

About the Course

This course will introduce you to some of the main areas of research in contemporary philosophy. Each module a different philosopher will talk you through some of the most important questions and issues in their area of expertise. We’ll begin by trying to understand what philosophy is – what are its characteristic aims and methods, and how does it differ from other subjects? Then we’ll spend the rest of the course gaining an introductory overview of several different areas of philosophy. 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....

Top reviews

LT

Sep 1, 2015

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and find that it encouragingly sets some directions, and of course, raises my excitement for further study into some of the different fields of philosophy. Thank you.

CC

Oct 7, 2015

Great explanations that is broken down with examples for understanding. Quizzes test for your understanding of the topic rather than just the textbook explanations. Challenging and thought revoking.

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2026 - 2050 of 2,120 Reviews for Introduction to Philosophy

By soumik g

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May 21, 2020

Very good

By Enrique E

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Nov 24, 2018

excelent

By N I C A B

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Aug 14, 2017

Excelent

By Anisha R

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Apr 4, 2021

AWESOME

By MD I H

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Feb 6, 2021

not bad

By JUAN C S P

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Aug 21, 2020

Chevere

By Yash S

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Jan 29, 2020

Awesome

By Niranjana.C

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Jun 11, 2021

good

By Debanjan D

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Jul 6, 2020

great

By Erick J S B

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Feb 16, 2017

é bom

By RAJ B P Y

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Jun 21, 2022

good

By Bibhim

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May 30, 2021

NICE

By Indranil S

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Feb 12, 2021

good

By VISMI V

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May 19, 2020

good

By swapnil c

•

May 12, 2020

nice

By test'"><test

•

May 17, 2018

asd

By Md S M

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Jun 16, 2020

9

By José L D J

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Oct 6, 2015

M

By Dhwani R

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Jul 7, 2020

Although I greatly enjoyed the teaching in Week 5 of this course, and that part of the course alone has boosted up my rating from a 2 star rating to a 3 star one, I felt like the concepts argued were far from introductory - perhaps even pedantic for someone who was not exposed to the methodology of philosophy beforehand. Examples such as aliens made out of wood, or harping on the tiny difference between the words 'comply' and 'obey' seemed to me at least an insufficient method of explaining concepts, and until I reached week 5 I felt I didn't gain insight into the course. That said, The review assignments were great and the faculty did for their part try to cover as many diverse domains in philosophy as possible in this short duration. The week 5 modules were particularly enjoyable as they seemed to be more relatable, and with more solid arguments that a beginner could grasp more easily. I am glad to have finished this course, but I hope these small issues could be fixed in further versions of the course.

By IVAN J

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Nov 20, 2020

I loved some parts of the course only. I was happy to learn. However, as an introductory course, some elements were way tooooo heavy and intense. I struggled to get thru some bits. esp the one on Philosophy of Time.

Perhaps its not useful to pack in too much across a wide spectrum.

Also learning should be broken down into smaller digestible chunks; with small required readings (that are select pages or articles rather than materials that seem even more frightening!

By Eduardo V

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Aug 16, 2015

It is a very entertaining broad introduction to the topic of philosophy in general. The lecturers are very knowledgeable and are very good teachers. However, I wish there would be a more detailed treatment of the topics in question. I look forward to their future course on Philosophy of Science, as I believe that by focusing on a more narrow topic, they will be able to go a bit more in depth.

By Regina P Z

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Aug 27, 2015

I found the course a little hard to follow mainly because the video lectures would not load. I found I spent more time trying to get the course material working than actually absorbing it.

I really liked the lectures once they were working though. Its a very nice introduction to a way of thinking and the examples used to argument the theories were very entertaining.

By gcitroen

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Aug 23, 2015

The way of presenting topics of philosophy is refreshing and inviting for further reflection. The tests however are focusing on nitty gritty differences or features in the presented videos. Less motivating to submit the tests and invites me to focus only on the preseed video and excellent links to other extra sources.

By Monique S

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May 13, 2017

i don't really care for different people doing this module but, i understand that there is a lot of information so it has to be broken up. Its kinda hard to keep up due to everyone's different styles. i had to actually print out the transcripts in order to understand certain topics or revise videos more than 3 times.

By Madara u

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Dec 3, 2016

This course teach you how important is to have philosophical mind.The overview of what philosophy is in the first lecture is awesome. In further lectures they go into tools of philosophy and major questions and arguments for them.But you have to read the hand outs and have to work yourself through the course.