Courses · PHIL 101

PHIL 101: Introduction to Philosophy

15 lessons and an exam, in order. Start with Lesson 1 and read upward. Each lesson reads one big question through the thinkers who fought over it, from Socrates to the present, and treats faith and reason honestly on both sides.

Texts: Plato, Five Dialogues (Grube and Cooper); Perry, Bratman, and Fischer, Introduction to Philosophy; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Quiz: practice questions from the open lessons

  1. Lesson 1What is philosophy? Socrates and the examined life
  2. Lesson 2Logic and arguments
  3. Lesson 3Plato: Forms, the Cave, and the soul
  4. Lesson 4 · Not posted yetAristotle: causes, character, and the good life
  5. Lesson 5 · Not posted yetAugustine: faith seeking understanding
  6. Lesson 6 · Not posted yetAnselm and Aquinas: proofs, natural law, and the Five Ways
  7. Lesson 7 · Not posted yetDescartes: doubt and the thinking self
  8. Lesson 8 · Not posted yetEmpiricism: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume
  9. Lesson 9 · Not posted yetKant: the limits of reason
  10. Lesson 10 · Not posted yetEthics: what makes an action right?
  11. Lesson 11 · Not posted yetKierkegaard and existentialism
  12. Lesson 12 · Not posted yetPhilosophy of religion: arguments for God and the problem of evil
  13. Lesson 13 · Not posted yetPhilosophy of mind: are you just your brain?
  14. Lesson 14 · Not posted yetKnowledge and skepticism
  15. Lesson 15 · Not posted yetModern philosophy of language and science
  16. Exam · Not posted yetPHIL 101 Exam

Lessons open one at a time. Also on this site: PSY 101: Introduction to Psychology

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