Dear Philosophers,

Now that we've had the final week of lectures for 'Introduction to Philosophy' we're keen to know what you thought of the course, and if there are any ways we can improve future instances of it. We've created a survey that should take around 5 minutes to complete, that you can access here: https://class.coursera.org/introphil-003/quiz/attempt?quiz_id=216

Any thoughts or feedback on the course that you'd like to share with us via the survey are very much appreciated!

All the best,

The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Sun 9 Nov 2014 3:36 PM CET

Dear Philosophers,

This is just a reminder that your assignments for the peer assessment must be submitted by 11:00 pm, UK Standard/London Time, next Monday (the 10th of November).

And just in case: please remember that the peer assessment is an entirely optional part of the course that does not affect your final grade!

Good luck!
The Introduction to Philosophy Team,
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Fri 7 Nov 2014 5:00 PM CET

Hi folks,

I've just recorded a short (circa 9 minute) follow-up video for week 7 that aims to address some of the questions I've been seeing most on the threads. In the video, I talk a bit more about the personal time / external time distinction, explain why we lay so much emphasis on logical possibility in this context and try to clarify the replacement change / counterfactual change (or impact) distinction. (The latter while waving, but not breaking, a wine-glass ...) I also talk in a bit more detail about time travel and freedom - bringing in Hume's 'compatabilist' view for one thing. Finally, I name-check the self-parenting universe and a couple more physical models, (the Gott 'cosmic string' time machine and the Ori-Soen time machine). Anyway, lovely talking to you and keep your questions coming.

Many thanks and all best wishes, as ever,

Alasdair

Fri 31 Oct 2014 2:00 PM CET

Hi Philosophers,

We hope you have enjoyed week 6 of Introduction to Philosophy. Week 7 will be the last week of lectures. However, if you want to take part in the peer assessment, you will have the opportunity to do that over the next few weeks. Additionally, all the videos, resources and forums will be available indefinitely.

This week Dr. Alasdair Richmond will introduce you to the philosophy of time travel. In the first four lectures we will hear how the philosopher David Lewis defends the idea of time travel from various problems. In the first lecture we learn how backward and forward time travel is conceptually possible. Lecture two explains Lewis’s argument against the ‘Grandfather Paradox’, a paradox that seeks to show that time travel is impossible because it results in contradictions. Lecture three explains the way in which a time traveller could be said to change the course of history. In lecture four we encounter the problem of causal loops, another unintuitive result of time travel. Finally, in the fifth lecture, we look at some remaining conundrums for the philosophy of time travel, including the challenge set by Stephen Hawking: if time travel is possible, where are all the time travellers?

You should now be able to access the video lectures for week 7, as well as the slides, handout and transcript we have prepared for you this week, via the course page. You might want to discuss your thoughts on the discussion forum. Here we have posted some questions about the philosophy of time travel to start you off. You’ve had some great discussions so far, and we are looking forward to more of your philosophical exchanges!

This week you also have the opportunity to start the peer assessment. Although you are not required to do this assessment to get a statement or certificate of accomplishment, it is a good exercise to do if you’re keen to develop your philosophical skills. This page has information about the peer assessment and will allow you to get involved in it and here is a forum post we have put together that we hope will clarify any remaining ambiguities.

We hope this course has given you a good introduction to some of the issues philosophers try to understand, untangle, and argue over. The Introduction to Philosophy Team has found it a pleasure exploring these topics with you.

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Mon 27 Oct 2014 2:00 PM CET

Dear Philosophers,

The peer assessment will start next Monday, 27th October. We have written a forum post explaining the details of the peer assessment here. This post includes information on:
- navigating the peer assessment page and the peer assessment submission page
- the word limit policy
- how to cite papers
- the questions
- the evaluation criteria

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
#introphil
@edintrophilmooc

Tue 21 Oct 2014 4:10 PM CEST

Hi Everyone,

We hope you have enjoyed week 5 of Introduction to Philosophy. Sadly, we are nearing the end of the course. However, there is much to look forward to in week 6, where we will be learning about the philosophy of science.

This week Dr. Michela Massimi will be giving seven lectures on the debate between Scientific Realists and Scientific Anti-Realists. Lecture one will introduce this debate, which concerns how we should understand the aim of science. Lectures two and three will explain the historical context of this debate. The history of Astronomy, from the time of the Ancient Greeks to the arrival of Galileo and his telescope, is used to illustrate how the understanding of the aim of science has changed. In the fourth lecture, a contemporary philosophical argument for Scientific Realism is explained. It is known as the ‘No-Miracles Argument’. The following lecture outlines a response to this from a particular account of Scientific Anti-Realism, known as Constructive Empiricism. Next, in lecture six, some potential problems with Constructive Empiricism are put forward. Finally, the debate is summarized in lecture seven.

You should now be able to access the video lectures for week 6, as well as the slides and transcripts we have prepared for you this week, via the course page. You might want to discuss your thoughts on the discussion forum. Here we have posted some questions about philosophy of science to start you off. You’ve had some great discussions so far, and we are looking forward to more of your philosophical exchanges!

If you find this week of Introduction to Philosophy particular interesting, you may want to check out Edinburgh’s new ‘Philosophy and the Sciences’ online course. It starts today! While our lecture this week concentrates on one of the broadest debates in the philosophy of science, this course focuses on philosophical issues facing particular sciences (physical sciences and cognitive sciences). Each week a scientist and a philosopher will collaborate to highlight a philosophical issue in physics, psychology or neuroscience. It will include presentations from some of our very own staff in this course: Prof. Duncan Pritchard, Dr. Suilin Lavelle, Dr. Michela Massimi, and Dr. Alasdair Richmond.

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Mon 20 Oct 2014 2:00 PM CEST

Dear Philosophers,

We hope you enjoyed week 4 of Introduction to Philosophy. So far we’ve grappled with issues in epistemology, the philosophy or mind and moral philosophy. This week we return to epistemology, and specifically the issue of testimony - the extent to which we should form our beliefs based on the testimony of others.

In the lectures this week, Dr. Allan Hazlett introduces us to one of the central debates of the Enlightenment, an important period in intellectual history roughly spanning the years from 1700—1800. In his first lecture, Dr. Hazlett introduces us to David Hume’s argument that we should never believe in miracles on the basis of testimony alone, and, more generally, Hume’s view that we should never trust the testimony of others unless we have evidence that it is likely to be true. In his second and third lectures, we are introduced to Thomas Reid’s opposing views on testimony. In the fourth lecture, we focus on Immanuel Kant’s answer to the question “What is Enlightenment?”, which allows us to connect Hume and Reid’s debate over the epistemic status of testimony to the broader currents of Enlightenment thinking. In the final Lecture, Dr. Hazlett outlines the on-going debate concerning two putative intellectual virtues - should we practice intellectual autonomy or intellectual solidarity?

You should now be able to access the videos for week five, as well as any slides and handouts. As always, if you want to discuss the material from this week’s lectures you should head to the discussion forums. We look forward to hearing your views on testimony!

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Mon 13 Oct 2014 2:00 PM CEST

Dear philosophers,

Dr. Chrisman has responded to some of the issue that arose in discussions from last week. You can find the new video here. He discusses objectivism and relativism; "what is morality?"; and whether the "status of morality" should be explained with reference to all three theories.

You can also find a new discussion thread here, in which Dr. Chrisman offers some insight on relativism and the challenge from moral progress.

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Sat 11 Oct 2014 11:30 AM CEST

Dear philosophers,

We hope you enjoyed week 3 of Introduction to Philosophy. This week, Dr. Matthew Chrisman will be giving three lectures on a topic in moral philosophy he calls “The Status of Morality”.

The first lecture will introduce us to this topic: what is the status of particular moral judgments? Are they the sort of judgments that can be true or false – or are they mere opinions? If they are true or false, what makes them true or false? And if they are true, are they objectively true? The second lecture introduces three approaches philosophers have taken to these questions, and the third lecture introduces one main objection to each approach.

You should now be able to access the video lectures for week 4, as well as the slides that are used in this week’s lectures. You might be interested to discuss your thoughts on the status of morality in the discussion forum. As always, we are looking forward to your philosophical exchanges!

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Mon 6 Oct 2014 2:00 PM CEST

Dear Philosophers,

Dr. Suilin Lavelle has responded to some of the discussion you've had in the forums. Click here to watch the video where Dr. Lavelle clarifies what she means by 'aboutness'. She also talks about animal minds and the problem of attributing consciousness to machines. Here is the website of philosopher Peter Carruthers who Dr. Lavelle mentioned. If you click ‘Articles’ then ‘On animal mentality’ then you have access to his articles on animal minds.

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Fri 3 Oct 2014 2:10 PM CEST

We hope you enjoyed week 2 of Introduction to Philosophy. We have grappled with some issues in contemporary Epistemology, and there have been plenty of great discussions about week 2's topics in the discussion forums.

This week Dr. Jane Suilin Lavelle will be giving six lectures on the Philosophy of Mind. The first lecture will introduce us to the subject. It asks: what makes minds special? It also introduces us to Descartes’ theory about what minds are, a theory that many in the philosophy of mind are still reacting to today. The second lecture introduces us to the Identity Theory of minds, while the third explains Functionalism. The fourth clarifies these two theories, and how they differ. The final lectures explain why some have understood the mind as being like a computer, and some potential problems with this view.

You should now be able to access the video lectures for week 3, as well as the slides or hand-outs we have prepared for you this week, via the course page. You might want to discuss your thoughts on the discussion forum. Here we have posted some questions about philosophy of mind to start you off. You’ve had some great discussions so far, and we are looking forward to more of your philosophical exchanges!

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Mon 29 Sep 2014 2:00 PM CEST

Dear Philosophers,

Professor Pritchard has responded to some of the issues which have been raised in the forums about the material of week two's lectures in two new videos, available here. In 'Further Discussion I', Professor Pritchard discusses the distinctiveness of the 'reasons' appealed to by epistemologists. In 'Further Discussion II', Professor Pritchard discusses such issues as the 'artificiality' of Gettier cases, the relation between knowledge and certainty, and the relation between radical scepticism and everyday life. We hope you enjoy them!

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Fri 26 Sep 2014 2:10 PM CEST

We hope you enjoyed week 1 of Introduction to Philosophy. Now that you have some basic understanding of what philosophy is, we can begin to explore specific fields of philosophical study.

This week, Professor Duncan Pritchard will be giving three lectures on epistemology, or the theory of knowledge. The first lecture will focus on the basic constituents of knowledge, thus giving you an introduction to the field of epistemology. The second lecture discusses the famous Gettier problem, which illustrates difficulties in giving an adequate account of knowledge. We wrap things up in the third lecture with the problem of radical scepticism – the challenge that it is not possible to have knowledge.

By now you should be able to access the video lectures for week 2, as well as any slides or hand-outs we have prepared for you this week. It might also interest you to check out the discussion forum for week 2. Here we have posted some questions to get you started in thinking about some epistemological problems. Discussions from the first week of this course have been great, so we are looking forward to more of your philosophical exchanges for this coming week!

Best wishes,
The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Mon 22 Sep 2014 2:10 PM CEST

Hello Philosophers,

 

Introduction to Philosophy is now open! If you’re looking for the place to introduce yourselves to other students you can do so in the discussion forums here, and if you’re looking to talk about the first week’s lectures you can do so here and here!

 

All the best,

The Introduction to Philosophy Team

Tue 16 Sep 2014 6:55 PM CEST

Welcome to the 'Introduction to Philosophy' course site! If you haven’t done a Mooc before (or even if you have), you might like to take some time to click around and familiarize yourself with the layout of the course pages.

You should have a look at the course logistics page, which you can access by clicking on the tab on the left hand of the course page. This will tell you all about the structure of the course, and what you’ll need to do to complete it. You should also take a moment to visit the wonderful discussion forums. There is an introductions thread where you can introduce yourself to everybody on the course, and a study groups thread where you can organize online or offline groups and meetings to talk about the material from the course.

You can find this week’s videos and resources in the week 1 tab on the left of the course page – our aim for this week is to try and understand what philosophy actually is. After you’ve watched the videos, you might like to head to the discussion forums to think through some of the issues this week with your fellow students. Within the Lectures forum you can find a week 1 sub-forum where we’ve provided some discussion topics to get you started.

Finally, we’re always interested to know more about who is taking our course and why. We’ve created a survey where you can, if you like, give us some information about yourself and how you came to be taking our Mooc. Participation in this survey is completely optional, and we won’t share the data you provide with any third parties.

We really hope you enjoy this course as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together – good luck, and happy philosophizing!

Best wishes,

The Introduction to Philosophy Team
@edintrophilmooc
#introphil

Mon 15 Sep 2014 2:00 PM CEST