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

4.7
stars
9,091 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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101 - 125 of 2,120 Reviews for Introduction to Philosophy

By Lucy E

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Nov 11, 2022

This was my first Coursera experience since retiring from my clinical role in the NHS .

It is incredible that you can undertake such a high quality course for free. I have learnt a great deal and it has really given me a flavour of what to expect if I were to choose to undertake this as full time degree subject.

I did not interact on the forum and found this a bit overwhelming .

I was not clear about the 'options' element, but got this sorted in the end and did all the options.

Great course. Thank you.

By Gianfranco D

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Feb 23, 2020

I've found this course interesting and engaging, as well as its lecturers. What I've appreciated most is the way as the course has been developed; questions for every single part of the lesson help the learner to reflect if the bulk of what you heard has been well understood; it's like when at school you raise your hand asking an explanation. In my opinion, I'd increase these moments of reflexion. Tests at the end of every single week allow the students to deepen into the topic. Congratulations to all.

By Naud P M

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Apr 15, 2021

It has been a great and insightful experience for me. The course has motivated me to pursue further studies where I can attain accreditations for Masters and even Doctoral scholarship. The platform is very friendly; with incredible Lecturers presenting accessible material, with great ease to make notes online, further reference material and exercises that helped to give clarity on the content material.

I'm immensely grateful for the opportunity accorded to me and thank all those who made it possible.

By Amit R

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Mar 19, 2020

There is a lot in the Indian Philosophy but it revolves around existence of God. Provided we accept this, the other dimensions of thoughts in Philosophy, should be added in the course content. The different theories are nonetheless very abstract ideas, at least from point of view of a person who generally studies technology, like me. So I think that must also be studied and added in the course content. The course was really enjoyable and enlightening. Thanks coursera and all professors. Thanks again.

By litongxi

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Aug 11, 2019

The course renders us an insight into philosophy by introducing several branches of contemporary philosophy with some mainstream ideas and arguements, and amazingly in a clear and concise way. And many philosophical questions haven't any clear answer so that we have to think them ourselves(the start of philosophical thinking!), yet with these ideas introduced we are more targeted. Also the extra readings are really helpful and enlightening. Thanks for all your hard work to present us the course.

By Danilo J M P y L

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Mar 29, 2022

Para mi al ser el primer curso que realizo en esta modalidad, lo vi muy detallado, muy bien elaborado, diria que se cuido hasta el minimo detalle, y los profesores muy capacitados, motivadores, y con mucho conocimiento del tema.

Un curso muy accesible, no tan complicado como lo harian aqui en las Universidades formales-

Fue una experiencia muy enriquecedero y desafiante para mi.

En suma mis felicitaciones, el haber podido participar e interactuar con Uds. es algo muy gratificante-

Muchas gracias¡¡

By Trish G

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Mar 6, 2021

I chose this course as I wanted to try something that I'd never done, or really put much thought into before.

The concepts were new for me, but really gave me a lot to process and think about.

I enjoyed each different week, with new speakers and different content. Each person broke the concepts down into basics and real-life examples, in order to help you grasp the lesson in a manageable way.

The quizzes were challenging, but the ability to go back and practice again was nice to have.

Thank you!

By Lily C

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May 2, 2020

I imagine it must be very difficult to decide on the right level of challenge for random participants but this was gauged perfectly. The lectures were not over simplified and introduced often difficult concepts in an accessible but grown up way. Every lecturer was engaging and clearly fired up about their particular field. I personally found that reading the transcripts before each lecture really helped me to achieve a little familiarity with each topic before I listened to the lecture.

By Sumiit D

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Mar 25, 2018

A great introductory course on philosophy. It is designed and organized in a pretty scholarly manner which makes it accessible to everyone providing a clear and simple understanding of the subject. Nonetheless, I must say that this is a fairly short course, there is much more that could be added into it—such as thoughts of contemporary(20th century) philosophers. I highly recommend this to the newbies; it should provide them with an academic-like head start in the realm of philosophy.

By Dawn S

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May 3, 2020

The introduction to philosophy has been a great course. I enjoyed all of the instructors. It was extremely informative, every week I learned new terms and discovered new things to share with my significant other. All that I learned and shared with him lead to lively debates. Most importantly I gained a greater understanding of philosophy, its history and the schools of thoughts that are in philosophy and best of all it has given me a thirst to really examine how I choose to think.

By dragonsong86@hotmail.com

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Dec 29, 2019

Fantastic course! I found all the instructors to be skilled in communicating the material in clear and interesting ways. The idea of alternative course pathways based on different topics is great (although I completed ALL of them, anyway). And I appreciate that there were no "Peer Graded Assignments," because those tend to be a sham, in my experience. I've seen everything from plagiarism to a dissertation on fairies in response to a History question in that type of assignment.

By Sonja W

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Apr 26, 2020

I truly enjoyed completing this course! I did not believe that my brain was wired to understand the complexities, let alone the language and terminologies used in this particular area of learning. I suppose that I surprised myself. Perhaps on a personal note, I should ensure adequate Internet reception and connection at all times - being disconnected or having to reload pages continuously has proven highly frustrating. Thanks, for making International learning possible!

By Luis A B B

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Dec 15, 2021

Thank you very much for helping me to think in a more critical and rational way. I think this is a deep need of the human being, and it is something that we must cultivate and share with others. Thanks to this course I have a route of access and guide to be able to investigate with more depth topics that concern me and that are of great importance. We are alive and therefore we need to know the why of many things... thanks for the clarity and order. you are the best.

By Jiali S

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Apr 26, 2017

I like this course a lot and have spent several days following all the lectures, for a feeling that the whole course is formulated not with a historical/overwhelmed view but aims to inspire a true interest in the ways of thinking. A discursive thought path and I've really enjoyed it. Thank you for your sharing knowledge and kind design. Besides, the materials for independent learning are good guide! At least, I know where to find trustworthy information. THANKS!

By Mariana S

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Sep 10, 2020

This was my very first time doing philosophy, yet everything was clearly presented and well explained by the professors for each topic. This course has definitely motivated me to further explore philosophy and also made me question some of the usual daily life situations. I want to thank all the lecturers that have participated in the creation of this course and encourage other students, who are new to philosophy just as I once was, to take part in this course.

By Raghu K

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Mar 19, 2019

This was my first MOOC course that I completed successfully. It will inspire me to take more. I am an engineer and I joined this course to improve my clarity of thinking. At the very beginning the instructor Dave's definition of philosophy as the activity of working out the best way to think about things caught my interest and I learned a lot about common topics but in an intellectual way. To all the instructors and forum moderators of this course, thank you!

By Sajid I

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Jul 24, 2020

An immensely important course to be taken, irrespective of one's core area of studies and expertise to be able to, as professor Dave Wards puts it, occasionally step back and ask questions about fundamentals of subject matter that one is engaged in to somehow not only actually justify actions arising out of the subject matter but to also fulfill intellectual craving that defines the true spirit in acquiring knowledge if it could be acquired at all.

By Rishabh

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Oct 31, 2015

Very good course, Offers insights from various domains of Philosophy, which one doesn't go in usually. And ends up discovering that there are in fact various ways to look at this subject which is an essential tool for living and constant improving our quality of life.

The University of Edinburgh has structured this course well, and the faculties, bright and deep in their domains makes you understand the contents more easily then they are.

Thank you.

By Aleksandra B

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Mar 26, 2020

I have learnt about a number of fundamental topics in philosophy through lectures and materials. I have also been able to test my knowledge via practice questions and quizzes. Finally, I have conducted my own research and engaged in philosophical analysis for the final essay assignment, as well as evaluated my peers' submissions. Of particular interest and impact to me were the topics of Morality, Law, Knowledge and Testimony. Thanks, @Edinburgh.

By Donise L D

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Aug 5, 2022

Thank you for offering this free Introduction to Philosophy course. Philosophy is an interesting subject to me and my goal was to begin building a foundation of knowledge in terms of different ideas and of different philosphies over time. The instrustors were charming and knowledgeble and I really appreciated the video lectures alongside the text. I learn in different ways to this was helpful.

Again, thanks ever so much.

Best regards,

Donise

By Enrique A

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May 3, 2021

Dificil para mi que no soy muy fluido en Ingles, las transcripciones ayudan mucho.

El curso esta muy bien estructurado, lo basico, lo necesario para emprender un estudio sobre un tema tan complejo, definitivamente te deja con ganas de buscar mas informacion sobre todos esos problemas, ideas,planteamientos y aplicaciones; el debate nunca termina.

Recomiendo mucho esta ventana al conocimiento a travez de personajes tan entregados a su profesion.

By Abhishek S

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May 30, 2020

A very insightful course to initiate the understanding about Philosophy.

Philosophy is related to each and every situation and decison we make.

And this is the course which tries to put some seeds in the brain to think broader and helps to create a better process of looking at thing/situations

All the instructer have a very deep understanding about the subject and helped alot in making and initial study through their effective teaching styles.

By Olivia H

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Aug 17, 2020

Finally, a free online course WORTH TAKING! I found this course pretty difficult, but in a really satisfying way- I felt like I was genuinely learning something new and hard in every lecture, yet it was all so well explained. Great lecturers, and great tests that you really have to focus on in order to pass. It's refreshing to do an online course that isn't 'stupidly simple'. This is hard but you'll enjoy it a lot :) Recommend to everyone!

By Madeleine W

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May 21, 2017

Couldn't have asked for a better introduction to Philosophy. The handouts and videos matched very well and gave option for different styles of learning. The text book (Philosophy for everyone) I bought on Amazon was also very interesting for extra reading and I can refer to that when learning more about Philosophy. Perfect amount of options for how much detail I wanted to learn and plenty of resources for me to check out in my spare time.

By Alexis B

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Sep 29, 2020

I found it to be interesting and informative. I had had a interest in Philosophy for a long long time. I'm in accounting and finance so have never had much of a chance to pursue my other interests. I now have the time during Covid-19 to pursue my interests. Would I be interested in taking more classes on Philosophy. Not really.But it was well done and the moderators were all very good but I especially liked the last one on Time Travel.