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

4.7
stars
9,111 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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2051 - 2075 of 2,126 Reviews for Introduction to Philosophy

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.

By Tiara L

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Mar 5, 2018

A good overall (modular) introduction to Philosophy and worth completing, but it lacks a more complete development of any of the presented topics. Definitely worth watching the lectures, but in-depth independent work and thorough readings are a must if you want to get more out of this course.

By July C S P

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Mar 9, 2020

Los aportes de cada uno de los profesores es muy diferente, algunos de ellos tienen sesiones realmente interesantes y muy bien elaboradas, mientras que en otros las ideas son muy básicas y poco profundas, además de que no se hacen entender bien. Hacen falta las transcripciones en inglés.

By Raúl B

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Jan 2, 2016

The classes were pretty good, but the bibliography was not. The bibliography consists of encyclopedia's articles which are not necessarily written to a beginner. It is quite discouraging for someone starting with philosophy to read articles which lacks a pedagogic approach.

By Phil D

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Nov 18, 2020

Many of the test questions have multiple answers to be checked. Philosophically, many of the answers are very similar and there is no partial credit. I understand this is a philosophy class but the material was organized nebulously and the tests were even more nebulous.

By Alix R D

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Nov 20, 2015

Interesante pero tal vez demasiado amplio para ser una introducción y por lo tanto demasiado general.

No capté el criterio de selección de los temas, y los temas presentados no eran los que esperaba.

Muy buenos los profesores, muy entusiastas de su materia.

By ISHAN S

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Jul 7, 2020

The ideas behind certain theories were explained but the basics of how to formulate an argument and checking its validity and soundness were not given. This is what I was expecting from and introductory course.

By Syed N H

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Dec 5, 2016

Too complicated for those who are new to philosophy. The basic concepts not very clearly explained. It seems that teachers had the assumption that students already had some previous knowledge of philosophy.

By Vincent G

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Apr 29, 2020

Contenido interesante y instructivo, bien presentado, con un pelín de humor y un buen orden. ¡Que pena que sea sólo con voces en inglés! Me cuesta mucho leerlo en español y luego tener preguntas en inglés.

By Luisa B

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Jul 7, 2020

Overall, I found the topics to be interesting, but many times the videos seemed boring as there is no coherence between the modules nor much depth as I expected into the philosophycal questions.

By Priyadarsi H

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Jul 13, 2021

The course was good but the certificate should have the total amount of time I spend in the topic. And also its written non-credit certificate which is causing problem in my college

By Ä°lker G

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Sep 7, 2015

The course does not have much videos and some of the lecturers (especailly week 5) talk TOO FAST. The subject is abstract and hard enough and talking too fast makes it harder.

By Renan C C

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Oct 24, 2017

Great topics and teachers! The tests could be a little more exigent, I guess, nevertheless, it's a well built and interesting course open to anyone!

By Julia Z

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Feb 24, 2018

The first couple of tutors sounded interested in what they were doing and like they knew what they were saying. The rest didn't.

By DJ

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May 13, 2018

As an introductory course this was sufficient and provided an excellent insight into the numerous areas of philosophy.

By Manoj J

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Jan 24, 2016

I have a mixed feeling about it. Sometimes I felt, this course was trying to deliver more content in short time.

By James D

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Mar 30, 2016

Some brilliant videos, but some leave much to be desired. Nice introduction but don't get too hung up on it.

By Tsering S

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Jan 19, 2017

There were a number of different instructors and it was great to have a taste of varying topics from them.

By Amira L F

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Dec 1, 2023

Me parece que existen muchos otros temas relevantes en relación a la introducción a la filosofía .

By Jasmine F

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Sep 17, 2020

Interesting topics. By the way, the university’s logo on the certificate is not printed correctly.