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

4.7
stars
9,093 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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1726 - 1750 of 2,120 Reviews for Introduction to Philosophy

By Charles E D

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Feb 24, 2016

In as much as I enjoyed the course at times the dialect was difficult. However, the reason for 4 stars as opposed to 5 stars is due to a lack of ability to have receive an answer to a difficult question answered by an instructor as opposed to another class participant who necessarily did not have any better grasp of the question than myself. Given that I certainly enjoyed the course overall.

By David R

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Sep 10, 2015

Great tasters to the field, would also be very interested in an overall schema of Philosophy and its various branches and maybe even supported by a major highlevel roadmap of key philosophers and major arguments as an overall introduction to the field for the novice (like me!), that is considering further study. Might be an opportunity as have not been able to find one as yet on the web .. ?

By richard d

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May 6, 2020

The course content was well-delivered and lecturers excellent. All aspects of the course were fascinating having never studied or even thought about philosophy. I qualified in engineering and work in construction which is very different . Highly recommended as a starting point for those interested and forces you to re-think many aspects of traditional thinking. (in my case anyway)

By Idris I M

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Jul 10, 2017

The course has been successful in organizing my thoughts with regard to several questions on general philosophy and metaphysics particularly. I have come to understand that even today, there is no correct way of thinking. More precisely, there is no correct answer and that we are free to believe in whatever seems right after keen philosophical inspection.

Thank you very much!

By Pimwipha C

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May 31, 2020

Everything in this course is great but I don't like it when there are so many professors teaching in different weeks. It's hard for me to get to know their teaching style. Some weeks are too easy and too hard. It's not a consistent learning flow for me. I like some of them has a summary video at the end of the week session. Some of them are really boring to watch.

By Gonzalo Q

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Aug 21, 2017

Excelente contenido para ser un curso introductorio, quizá muy especifico en algunas cuestiones. Falta un buen soporte de las conferencias y contenido en español, ya que hay videos sin traducción y todos los contenidos de lecturas adicionales se encuentran en ingles. De todas maneras vale la pena invertir un poco de tiempo en hacerlo, es una muy buena experiencia.

By Zohar S

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Aug 15, 2020

For some (not obvious) reason I feel that not all major issues / problems of philosophy were covered, though I cannot point out which are missing. I do feel that the last lesson - Travel in Time - may probably be omitted from the introduction.

Once again, it's just a feeling, not based on facts.

Thanks anyway - I did really enjoyed the course and the lecturers.

By Mursalin N

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Oct 4, 2020

Never loved philosophy like this before. It was really a pleasant journey which I wish to continue further down the road. I'd love to meet the super-qualified instructors personally if it was somehow possible. But for the time being thanks to Coursera for the beautiful arrangement. Glad to be a part of The University of Edinburgh's Philosophy department.

By Guido T

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Oct 24, 2015

Great course touching on very interesting philosophical topics and arguments around them.

Not all classes have the same level of clarity, and some of them brush past certain topics a bit too fast, but overall it's a great experience and totally worth one's time.

Recommended to anyone who wants to think more about the way we think, and the world we live in.

By Dorothy H

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Feb 18, 2016

I took this course just to listen to the lectures as an intro to the subject. One of the prof's accent was so heavy that I couldn't understand her well enough to listen to her lectures so had to skip that part. Other than that, it was enjoyable. I don't know if it was a good intro or not, complete enough or whatever... but it was generally interesting.

By cormac L

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Aug 29, 2015

Course was great. I completed it at my own pace and enjoyed most subjects covered thoroughly. My favourite week was about Metaethics. I enjoyed it greatly and am continuing studying that in my spare time. The one complaint I would have is that I found it difficult to understand the lecturer covering scientific philosophy, as her accent was quite thick.

By Fateme

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Dec 26, 2020

this course was a good introduction. it covered many fields of philosophy and will give you a general understanding of what philosophy really is. although some lectures were hard to follow and some didn't explore deep enough I still recommend it. Bear in mind that you will understand it much better if you already have some knowledge of philosophy.

By Celine M

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Feb 2, 2016

A very good introduction to major branches of Philosophy. While some questions on assignments were rather vague, and some lectures rather dull (I don't think I bothered watching the videos from the third week on... just relied on the- excellently put together!- handouts). Overall, a great course to take for a beginner to the world of Philosophy :D

By Hanna D

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Jul 21, 2022

Good course, learned a lot of fascinating material and the instructors were great. I do keep wishing, however, that it would give some sort of general overview of the discipline of philosophy, considering it's an introduction course. The presented separate topics are fascinating but I found myself lacking an understanding of the bigger picture.

By Deleted A

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Jan 31, 2016

Great introductory course, although somewhat short. I wish there would be more lectures, especially by prof. Michela Massimi. I will definitely take the "Philosophy and the Sciences" course, which seems to broaden some of the themes touched upon the week 6 of this MOOC. I am also looking forward for other courses by the University of Edinburgh.

By Esther M P

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Dec 16, 2017

Interesting overview in many of the topics in philosophy. Personal regret is I wish I had more time to dedicate to study and engagement with the faculty/peers on the discussion forums. I found it helpful that some professors posted a handout to read along. Quality of the course was as expected from a distinguished group of scholars. Thank you!

By Xin T

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Nov 12, 2019

Overall, this is a very interesting and well-constructed course. My only suggestion is some practice and quiz questions are grammarly cumbersome. Sometimes it took me a very long time just to understand the question or answers. Some even feel like word games. Hopefully, the quizzes can focus more on concepts rather than complicated details.

By Hu H

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Aug 28, 2015

It is a pretty good course in understand the basics of philosophy and get a sense of what philosophy is doing. The reference materials are really great and can help you gain a deeper understanding of course materials. However, the course is more limited to introduction and does not go in-depth.

A good course if you want a taste of philosophy.

By Chong Y K

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Jun 1, 2020

A very good course introducing the different facets of key contemporary philosophical questions. Ideal for beginners and those new for the subject, as it sets a solid base for understanding and appreciating philosophy. However, one may criticize philosophy as generally being non-conclusive and impractical when it comes to real-world issues.

By Marcelo G L

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Sep 7, 2019

Excellent course, very well organized and with a good structure to support the learning process. The content and the professors are amazingly good, guiding you through the topics in an exciting and well-explained way. I enjoyed very much and for sure I recommend this for everyone who wants to get in touch with philosophy and its basis.

By Lucas S

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Jul 29, 2017

I liked this course because of the calmness and dedication of the teachers, the reliability of the resources and the attractive topics that were selected.

Although I must recognize that sometimes the long extension of the additional resources didn't allow me to read them all.

Despite of that, the course was great and I enjoyed it.

By Deleted A

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Jul 10, 2019

imo it was pretty shallow, but for an introductory class, it did a good job of covering the most basic points of each topic that it explores. i enjoyed the range of areas offered, and things were explained in a way that was easily understandable. nevertheless, i felt that the quizzes could have been made slightly more difficult.

By Deleted A

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Nov 28, 2015

The course is great. The informatiion is objective, easy to process and good, the only bad thing about this course is that even though it has spanish subtitles all the test are in english which makes them way to hard to resolve. If you give the option of spanish subtitles on an english curse at least translate the test too.

By Denis A

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Jan 26, 2016

Two last lectures (week 6 and 7) are the most informative ones, giving a large pool of sources and information in an excellently structured way. It would be nice to expand bibliography for other lectures and add handout or transcript for week 4 because I actually was studying the materials, not watching videos. Thank you!

By Keith M

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Sep 19, 2023

It's a bit of an "in at the deep end" introduction to philosophy and I'm not sure I would have gone this route with it. Perhaps more of an overview of what philosophy is and isn't. Some more info about the key figures in philosophy through the ages etc. Rather than diving into the philosophy of time travel etc.