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

4.7
stars
8,753 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.

IH

Feb 21, 2023

I already had a Bachelor's in Philosophy degree. But, this course has the potential to comprehensively elaborate on the aspects that were lacking and that I was unable to comprehend in a unique way.

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226 - 250 of 2,026 Reviews for Introduction to Philosophy

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 Valery M

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

By Umaar A

Sep 1, 2020

It's a well structured course for absolutely beginners in the study of Philosophy. They include various schools of thought of different matters in this course, that helped in developing seeing thing from a different angle and deriving different conclusions.

By Meral Ş

Apr 21, 2021

In this course, I have been introduced to a variety of philosophical area. Moral philosophy to time travelling. It was a fun and educational journay. I think a lot about what I learn and it is changing my view of the world. I recommend everyone. Thank you.

By Jessica H

Sep 26, 2015

Clear, well-paced and engaging classes. I appreciated the overview of key debates in each topic, and my experience with this course was made all the more enjoyable through the passion with which the lecturers spoke about their respective areas of interest.

By Ratul D

Jun 23, 2020

I had an amazing time while going through this course. It helped me to deliberate the ideas and to have a proper subjective goals to it with topics of Idealism, Ethics which HSS brought a change in me. I'm Thankful to coursers for letting me a part of it.

By Jola F

Oct 13, 2016

I have enjoyed this course from the first class; it shows the philosophy as a set of ideas we may discuss using logic and not as a set of dates and Names attached to the Books. The professors are brilliant, lectures neither intimidated nor oversimplified.

By Mary S

Sep 8, 2020

Very good introduction to Philosophy, it makes you continue to investigate and ask yourself about your beliefs and try to place yourself in any of the theories or perspectives of the philosophers, as well as realize that you were not so wrong. Thank you.

By Bo P

Apr 12, 2019

I really enjoyed this course. Many intro to Philosophy can be pretty boring and hard to get into. However, this was accessible and introduced enough topics to get you interested. Also liked the balance and diversity in teaching staff. Highly recommended!

By Aamir N

Sep 4, 2020

Thank you very much. Very informative and made easy. Progressive in nature, The faculty made each new idea, theory and thought / concept very interesting and doable. As a start course, i am happy and feel fortunate that I participated.

Thanks All of You

By stephen

May 25, 2020

A great introduction to Philosophy in general and i really enjoyed the lecturers the content. The lectures were long enough but not to detailed that i got lost in the subject matter. I will definitely continue on my path of self knowledge. Thank you.