Introduction to Philosophy
The University of Edinburgh
About this 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.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
1
Section
What is Philosophy?
(Dr. Dave Ward) We’ll start the course by thinking about what Philosophy actually is: what makes it different from other subjects? What are its distinctive aims and methods? We'll also think about why the questions that philosophers attempt to answer are often thought to be both fundamental and important, and have a look at how philosophy is actually practiced. Finally, we'll briefly touch upon two very influential philosophers' answers to the question of how we can know whether, in any given case, there really is a right way of thinking about things.
4 videos (Total 47 min), 3 readings, 2 quizzes
4 videos
Philosophy: Difficult, Important and Everywhere11m
Philosophy: How Do We Do It?17m
Is There A 'Right Way' To Think About Things?6m
3 readings
About this Course10m
Module: What is Philosophy?10m
Optional Reading10m
2 practice exercises
Practice: What is Philosophy?8m
What is Philosophy?10m
2
Section
Morality: Objective, Relative or Emotive?
(Dr. Matthew Chrisman) We all live with some sense of what is good or bad, some feelings about which ways of conducting ourselves are better or worse. But what is the status of these moral beliefs, senses, or feelings? Should we think of them as reflecting hard, objective facts about our world, of the sort that scientists could uncover and study? Or should we think of moral judgements as mere expressions of personal or cultural preferences? In this module we’ll survey some of the different options that are available when we’re thinking about these issues, and the problems and prospects for each.
4 videos (Total 44 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
4 videos
Objectivism, Relativism and Emotivism13m
Objections to Objectivism, Relativism and Emotivism11m
Further Discussion7m
2 readings
Module: Morality: Objective, Emotive or Relative?10m
Related work by Philosophy staff at the University of Edinburgh10m
1 practice exercises
Practice: Morality: Objective, Relative or Emotive?12m
What is Knowledge? And Do We Have Any?
(Professor Duncan Pritchard) We know a lot of things – or, at least, we think we do. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge; what it is, and the ways we can come to have it. In this module, we’ll take a tour through some of the issues that arise in this branch of philosophy. In particular, we’ll think about what radical scepticism means for our claims to knowledge. How can we know something is the case if we’re unable to rule out possibilities that are clearly incompatible with it?
5 videos (Total 56 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
5 videos
The Classical Account of Knowledge and the Gettier Problem18m
Do We Have Any Knowledge?10m
Further Discussion 110m
Further Discussion 23m
2 readings
Module: What is Knowledge? And Do We Have Any?10m
Related work by Philosophy staff at the University of Edinburgh10m
1 practice exercises
Practice: What is Knowledge? And Do We Have Any?12m
Week 2 review
1 quiz
2 practice exercises
Morality: Objective, Relative or Emotive?20m
What is Knowledge? And Do We Have Any?24m
3
Section
Do We Have an Obligation to Obey the Law?
(Dr. Guy Fletcher) The laws of a state govern what we can and cannot do within that state. But do we have an obligation to obey those laws? In this module, we'll discuss this question, together with some of the main positions that philosophers have developed in response to it. We'll start off by examining what obeying the law means exactly. Then we'll look at three factors that might form the basis of an obligation to follow the law. Finally, we'll discuss what the consequences might be if the problem can't be solved.
7 videos (Total 27 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
7 videos
The Grounds of Political Obligation2m
Gratitude and Benefit4m
Consent8m
Fairness3m
What if the Problem Can't Be Solved?1m
Summary1m
2 readings
Module: Do We Have an Obligation to Obey the Law?10m
Related work by Philosophy staff at the University of Edinburgh10m
1 practice exercises
Practice: Do We Have an Obligation to Obey the Law?20m
Should You Believe What You Hear?
(Dr. Allan Hazlett) Much of what we think about the world we believe on the basis of what other people say. But is this trust in other people's testimony justified? In this module, we’ll investigate how this question was addressed by two great philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment, David Hume (1711 - 1776) and Thomas Reid (1710 - 1796). Hume and Reid's dispute about testimony represents a clash between two worldviews that would continue to clash for centuries: a skeptical and often secular worldview, eager to question everything (represented by Hume), and a conservative and often religious worldview, keen to defend common sense (represented by Reid).
5 videos (Total 25 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
5 videos
Reid's Challenge to Hume2m
Reid's Argument5m
Kant, the Enlightenment and Intellectual Autonomy4m
The Value of Intellectual Autonomy3m
2 readings
Module: Should You Believe What You Hear?10m
Related work by Philosophy staff at the University of Edinburgh10m
1 practice exercises
Practice: Should You Believe What You Hear?8m
Week 3 review
1 quiz
2 practice exercises
Do We Have an Obligation to Obey the Law?20m
Should You Believe What You Hear?20m
4
Section
Minds, Brains and Computers
(Dr. Suilin Lavelle) If you’re reading this, then you’ve got a mind. But what is a mind, and what does it take to have one? Should we understand minds as sets of dispositions to behave in certain ways, as patterns of neural activation, or as akin to programmes that are run on the computational hardware of our brains? In this module, we’ll look at how and why recent philosophy of mind and psychology has embraced each of these options in turn, and think about the problems and prospects for each.
7 videos (Total 57 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
7 videos
Physicalism: Identity Theory and Functionalism13m
Functionalism and What Mental States Do8m
Functionalism and Functional Complexity4m
Minds vs. Machines: The Turing Test and the Chinese Room11m
Minds vs. Machines: Problems for the Computational View of the Mind4m
Further Discussion4m
2 readings
Module: Mind, Brains and Computers10m
Related work by Philosophy staff at the University of Edinburgh10m
1 practice exercises
Practice: Minds, Brains and Computers24m
Are Scientific Theories True?
(Professor Michela Massimi) In this module we will explore a central and ongoing debate in contemporary philosophy of science: whether or not scientific theories are true. Or better, whether a scientific theory needs to be 'true' to be good at all. The answer to this question comes in two main varieties. Scientific realists believe that theories ought to be true in order to be good. We will analyse their main argument for this claim (which goes under the name of 'no miracles argument'), and some prominent objections to it. Scientific antirealists, on the other hand, defend the view that there is nothing special about 'truth' and that scientific theories and scientific progress can be understood without appeal to it. The aim of this session is to present both views, their main arguments, and prospects.
7 videos (Total 29 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
7 videos
Saving the Phenomena? Ptolemeic Astronomy5m
Truth? Galileo and Copernican Astronomy2m
Scientific Realism and the No Miracles Argument3m
Scientific Anti-Realism: Constructive Empiricism7m
Realist Rejoinders: Inference to the Best Explanation5m
Concluding Summary2m
2 readings
Module: Are Scientific Theories True?10m
Related work by Philosophy staff at the University of Edinburgh10m
1 practice exercises
Practice: Are Scientific Theories True?16m
Week 4 review
1 quiz
2 practice exercises
Minds, Brains and Computers20m
Are Scientific Theories True?20m
5
Section
Do We Have Free Will and Does It Matter?
(Dr. Elinor Mason) We typically feel that the actions that we make are the result of our own free choices. But what if those actions are simply the end result of a long chain of cause and effect? What does this mean for free will? In this module, we'll look at the concept of determinism. In particular, we'll consider the implications that determinism might have for the notion of free will.
5 videos (Total 35 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
2 readings
Module: Do We Have Free Will? Does it Matter?10m
Related work by Philosophy staff at the University of Edinburgh10m
1 practice exercises
Practice: Do We Have Free Will and Does It Matter?20m
Time Travel and Philosophy
(Dr. Alasdair Richmond) In this module we'll think about some issues in metaphysics, a branch of philosophy that investigates the ways that reality could intelligibly be. Our case study will be the possibility, or otherwise, of time-travel. Some have thought that the apparent possibility of creating a machine that we could use to transport a person backwards in time can be ruled out just by thinking about it. But is time-travel really logically impossible? What would the universe have to be like for it to be possible? And can we know whether our universe fits the bill?
6 videos (Total 49 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
6 videos
Grandfather Paradoxes9m
Two Senses of Change7m
Causal Loops7m
Where Next?8m
Further Discussions8m
2 readings
Module: Time Travel and Philosophy10m
Related work by Philosophy staff at the University of Edinburgh10m
1 practice exercises
Practice: Time Travel and Philosophy16m
Week 5 review
1 quiz
2 practice exercises
Do We Have Free Will and Does It Matter?20m
Time Travel and Philosophy20m
Peer review
1 quiz
4.6
31%
83%
Top Reviews
By RR•Sep 24th 2015
Highly rated course.\n\nFor all people who think it is important to understand Life and for it to learn from nicer teachers and great philosophy trends. Thank you to Coursera and Edimburgh University.
By LT•Sep 2nd 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.
Instructors
Dr. Dave Ward
Lecturer in Philosophy
Professor Duncan Pritchard
Professor of Philosophy
Professor Michela Massimi
Full Professor
Dr. Suilin Lavelle
Lecturer in Philosophy
Dr. Matthew Chrisman
Reader in Philosophy
Guy Fletcher
Lecturer
Elinor Mason
Senior LecturerAbout The University of Edinburgh
Influencing the world since 1583, The University of Edinburgh is consistently ranked as one of the world's top 50 universities. Today, we are an established and global leader in online learning, providing degree-level education to 3,000 online students in addition to 36,000 students on-campus. We also offer a wide range of free online courses in a variety of subjects. To find out more about studying for one of our online degrees, search for ‘Edinburgh online’ or visit www.ed.ac.uk
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