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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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201 - 225 of 2,120 Reviews for Introduction to Philosophy

By Dr. A S

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Jul 20, 2021

This is an eyeopener course. I have had difficulties in understanding western philosophy. But this course which is so lucidly explained with the help of videos and handouts and open sources that reading , understanding and making people understand Western philosophy is rather cohesive for me. Thank you.

By Héctor M M

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Dec 2, 2020

Amazing course! I have an aficionado interest in philosophy and is great to see how there are several concepts that I can apply not only to my personal life but to my professional life as well. The lectures are really clear and the instructors make it easy to understand, is worth taking all the lessons.

By Gamal E H

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May 2, 2020

I really enjoy this journy, very good teachers with a very good and simple way to make you understand to the most important topic of philosophy.

I have to thank you all for let me be part of this journy.

Loves sincerely from Venezuelan, a science student really love the opotunity to learn with you all.

By Estelle

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Jan 21, 2016

This was a fantastic course! The content was very interesting, especially the section on time-travel, which I absolutely loved. I also liked that the course was perfectly manageable, unlike all the other MOOC's that I have attempted, where the time commitment turns out to be much bigger than expected.

By Sharalee L

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Jul 24, 2021

I enjoyed learning about the introduction to philosophy. It is something I had thought I might be interested in but had not explored. I think that it has broadened my understanding of the media and politics as I can see where the ideas have come from in many cases and the problems in their arguments.

By Yue Y

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Jan 22, 2021

Very easy to understand, a good introductory course leading us to the Philosophy world. I learn very basic and interesting philosophy theories. One improvement can be the subtitle, I believe the Mandarin version may have some compatible issues. It always has the same line showing on the screen twice.

By Jason H

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Jan 15, 2019

Great introduction, argument presentation, counter-argument consideration and supporting materials for simple yet intriguing philosophical topics. Faculty was engaging and well spoken and course was able to keep my interest. Excellent for those looking to get an insight into the world of philosophy.

By KaZ A

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Mar 14, 2018

Very enjoyable. Gave me a lot to think about regarding further pursuits in philosophy. Helped me to pinpoint the type of philosophy that I find most useful. Would love to have more exposure to Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Nietzsche, Sartre, Brecht, science, humanist and existential philosophers.

By Sandu

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Jul 14, 2020

I really enjoyed taking this course and the content was very interesting. All the lectures were amazing. I loved the teaching style and the teachers made the content easy to understand and interesting. I would love to thank the university of Edinburgh and all lecturers for providing us this course.

By Pragash B

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May 21, 2020

The course hits the target and achieves in fulfilling its objectives. Simply it makes us think in different perspectives and ask questions pertaining the same. Thank You. The course is interesting, appealing (through good lecturers) and without a doubt, this learning is such a wonderful experience.

By Gauri B

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Sep 21, 2021

My interest in philosophy was handicapped by the fact that i had no academic background in this field and was at a loss on where to begin. Thanks immensely to all the educators who have put together this remarkable, comprehensible course that i now have confidence to pursue philosophy further.

By Jigna C

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Jun 12, 2020

It was a brilliant introduction to a subject I got interested in when I saw so many series on Netflix about wonderful philosophers.

The lectures were brilliant and each professor did a brilliant job .

Loved the course content and would surely recommend my friends to take it up.

Thank you so m uch

By Carlos E C G

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May 6, 2020

Great Course!

I would like to thank all the teachers, who kindly guided us throughout these lectures, for they have greatly contributed -at least that is my case- to better understand the main issues within philosophy, as well as, making me "fall in love with wisdom" as Philosophy is meant to.

By Karolina K

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Feb 6, 2018

Such a shame that my previous philosophy lessons were focusing on ancient philosophers only. This course gives you a whole new perspective, covering many philosophical questions from diverse points of view, including those ancients and the very modern ones. It makes you want to dig dipper! :)

By Keith H

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Apr 24, 2023

Although the course was taken 18months ago the fundamentals of Philosophy still remain with me. Wisdom I suppose is the Bigger truth. The course offered here unravels nature,knowledge, reality and our existence on Earth.. Our Behaviours and interrelationships. Laws of wrong and right.m

By Alisson B M

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Sep 26, 2021

I loved it. Thank you so much for the opportunity of having such an amazing course for free. I would only like to mention that the section about free will didnt fulfill my expectations, I didnt like it so much, compared to the other sections. Nonetheless, its worth giving the course a shot.

By Suzi

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Aug 10, 2016

I've never taken a philosophy course because it seemed difficult to understand. However, the lecturers explained the concepts and theory clearly. This course has increase my understanding of philosophy and how applicable it is in other fields. I really enjoyed the course and recommend it!!!

By Gregory A M

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Oct 17, 2017

Excellent teaching all round and an interesting set of topics. I like the idea that you can pick and choose which topic interests you the most each week and will only be assessed on that but I decided to complete all of the lectures and assessments for my own benefit. Thank you very much!

By Clinton M

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Aug 16, 2017

Fantastic course. The instructors presented their material in an interesting and thought-provoking, yet easy to understand manner. The video lectures were a great complement to the reading material, and helped to clear up some of the concepts I was a bit unclear on. 10/10 would recommend!

By Anil N

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May 8, 2020

Exceptional teachers. Some of the concepts in philosophy can be very confusing. The teachers do a good job of giving enough examples and summarizing the arguments. It is a good course to enable you to get an overall understanding of the topic and see which topic you want to deep dive in.

By Cameron S

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Oct 20, 2020

What a fantastic experience. Its my first time back at study since university more than 20 years ago and I have loved it. I will certainly not be stopping here. The course was interesting and really offered so much opportunity to challenge and go way beyond the materials if I wanted to.

By GUSISI

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Feb 13, 2017

Teachers are really responsive to questions that were mentioned in the forum, and they provided me with a good start in philosophy. I would recommend this course to anyone who is interested in philosophy but has no previous experience. This course will lead you to the a different world.

By Eduardo S P

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Jan 20, 2016

Very good course, it perfectly introduces some of the most relevant topics in philosophical discussion, some are new some are very very old but still fascinating. I would strongly recommend this course for anyone interested in learning about philosophy, history and culture in general.

By Christopher B

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Oct 18, 2019

I had a great time on this course and I learned many new interesting concepts that got me thinking, and will help me to learn any other course I take. In particular, I enjoyed learning about Are Scientific Theories True?, Minds, Brains and Computers, and Time Travel and Philosophy.

By Kiran R

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Feb 6, 2021

Being from a statistics background, I had missed out on learning Arts and Humanities, since I read a lot of varied stuff. This course as well as the teachers gave a wonderful insight into how philosophers approach topics and think about it. Was a wonderful five weeks of learning.