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

4.7
stars
9,085 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.

G

Apr 10, 2021

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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226 - 250 of 2,120 Reviews for Introduction to Philosophy

By L H

Dec 15, 2020

Excellent introduction to Philosophy. I particularly enjoyed the module on Time Travel, Dr Alasdair Richmond's passion for the topic is evident and really shines through during his presentation of the content. Please make a longer course going through the topics in greater depth!

By Laura Y

Mar 29, 2020

I absolutely loved this! Really good overview of all these subjects, with an options and information to go deeper. The lecturers were all amazing, and I'm going to be going over these notes quite a bit! Really helped reignite my interest in thinking about things differently :)

By Iriana C B

Aug 5, 2022

Considero que abarca las temáticas suficientes y necesarias para tener un concepto e ideología de la filosofía más clara y entendible, anexo a que otorga un sin fin de cuestionamientos que amplían la curiosidad por el conocimiento y las ganas de obtener mucho más aprendizaje.

By Nigel C

Feb 22, 2021

Really enjoyed the stretch of this course - 40 years since I last did any serious study for its own sake. Took me a while to establish a realistic rhythm and frequency to setting time aside but it was well worth it. Particularly appreciated the video/recap/review/quiz format.

By Vivi

Apr 22, 2020

Awesome introduction course. It invites you to think critically and challenges you in order to question your own conclusion. Thank you for all the teachings and easy and funny examples so that we can better understand the complex vocabulary of the quoted ancient philosophers.

By Manu N L

May 21, 2020

Great course around a modern vision of the basis of philosophy; good material, very high level of equipment docent. I get skill on analysis and several 'trends' of the 'actual philosophy' in form of introduction. Thanks for all, then, to University of Edimburgh and Coursera.

By Hernán M

Jun 12, 2016

Great course from one of the top universities in the world! Deep throughout, fast-paced but easy to understand, this course will give you a first impression of what Philosophy really is, making you want to delve more into this awesome world of thinking.

I highly recommend it!

By James R

May 18, 2019

An excellent course that does precisely what it says. It provides a fantastic taste of some of the foundations of philosophy. The content of the video lecturers are wonderful.

My only complaint is that the multiple choice tests at the end of each section have bugs in them.

By Nikko D M

Jan 15, 2021

Wow! This course is amazing! I have no regrets that I've enrolled myself for this! I took this for 3 days and literally help me to become more productive! I would like to commend all of the Lectures of this course, for delivering the lessons promptly and professionally!

By Terry M

Apr 27, 2020

Never even thought about philosophy before (pun unintended), but this introductory course to the subject was a great awakening. Plans are to continue in philosophical studies. Much thanks to the University of Edinburgh, Coursera and the great lecturers in this course.

By Crista M

Jun 11, 2020

Super interesting course and excellent lecturers. There’s a lot to wrap your head around, but it’s engaging and thought provoking. It was easy to feel motivated to continue through the lectures and the quizzes are well crafted to help ensure that you truly do “get it.”

By Ajnabi K P

Jun 8, 2020

Philosophy is a way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society. It works by asking very basic questions about the nature of human thought, the nature of the universe, and the connections between them. The ideas in philosophy are often general and abstract.

By Carolina H O

Mar 10, 2023

A fantastic course to start learning about philosophy. It was great to have a wide range of lecturers (with different styles) approaching various fields and topics of modern philosophy. The course also provides enough additional material to study further. I loved it.

By José M G A

Dec 9, 2016

Una excelente introducción al pensamiento filosófico, desde una visión bastante práctica. Me ha sorprendido especialmente el último tema sobre viajes en el tiempo, que en principio parece no cuadrar con el resto de "topics", pero resulta muy interesante y divertido.

By Gaayatri A S

Apr 14, 2022

It was a really good course and a very interesting one. I loved each of the lectures and though at first it felt as though there were a lot to think about and a little daunting, it is actually fun and good to explore these different topics, possibilities and ideas.

By Emmanual P J

Jun 12, 2020

The first thing I wanted to highlight is the remarkable wisdom of the professors. The ease with which they discuss the ideas is an evidence of the command they have over the philosophy of knowledge. They made the discussions so appealing with intelligible examples.

By Pablo G A

Jun 5, 2017

I think this course is interesting and well structured. I think it is a good introduction to philosophy. I learned a lot about morality, knowledge, laws, politics, minds, science, free will, and time travel.

The course also helped me to practice English :-)

Thanks!

By Jake G

Oct 24, 2015

While the indidivual lectureres did have a breadth of knowledge, a manditory discusion should be held with the homeworks instead of just the quizzes for completion. Perhaps a page on each week should be good enough. Just to understand each lecturer's main points.

By Jim P

Dec 18, 2020

I really enjoyed the course. I find the topics very interesting and thought provoking, while most of the time remaining relatively easy to understand. My participation and completion of this course has definitely motivated me to pursue philosophy in more detail.

By Jorge E M L V

Mar 23, 2019

MUY BUEN CURSO PARA INTRODUCIRSE AL MUNDO DE LA FILOSOFÍA, DE VERDAD QUE ES BASTANTE INTERESANTE APRENDER COSAS DE FILOSOFÍA LO RECOMIENDO MUCHO APRA PERSONAS QUE ESTUDIAN CARRERAS DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES COMO DERECHO, EDUCACIÓN, FILOSOFÍA, PSICOLOGÍA Y HUMANIDADES

By Rahul K

Aug 20, 2020

One of the best courses out there that really take you out on a mental journey of interesting thoughts and insights. Perfect for beginner like me. The language was not difficult to understand and instructors were phenomenal especially "The Time Traveller" one.

By Sophia A

Nov 9, 2017

Lead me to the beginning of doing philosophy and bring me with how to work out the right way of thinking about things. Share with me the big questions in contemporary philosophy.

I start to love Philosophy after this course! Thank you so much for your efforts!

By Deleted A

May 12, 2020

This course was great!

Definitely a good introduction to Philosophy, as they do an excellent job covering many different topics in such a short amount of time. The way concepts and ideas are explained is clear and perfect for beginners. Totally recommend it.

By Vũ B

Feb 14, 2022

A great introduction to philosophy. After going through the whole course, I now know that philosophy is much much more than trying to answer good-for-nothing questions, and I believe that the knowledge I have acquired will surely come in handy in the future

By Peter S

Sep 26, 2020

I found the course very useful, and the instructors were very good to explain the fundamentals in philosophy. I will recommend this course to anybody who have the slightes interest in the field, and I am sure you will be inspired to further studies as I did