Free Philosophy Resources Online Courses I Have Viewed in Full Justice, Harvard University – with Michael Sandel Availaible at: http://www.justiceharvard.org/ Texts Studied: Utilitarianism (JS Mill); Anarchy, State and Utopia (Robert Nozick); Second Treatise of Government (John Locke); Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (Immanuel Kant); A Theory of Justice (John Rawls); Politics (Aristotle); After Virtue (Alasdair Macintyre) Probably the best course to view in order to gain an introduction to philosophy as it focuses on Ethics/Political Philosophy (in my opinion the best branch to study in order to get into the subject) and is covered with near perfection by Michael Sandel, an excellent speaker and comedian who engages the students so thoroughly with the lectures that it can best be described as a Socratic education. The material covered is all interesting and Sandel expertly interweaves it with issues both timely and timeless; Justice provides an excellent introduction to the texts and helps provide a grounding for a more serious study of the authors. Highly recommended for all. Introduction to Philosophy and Ethics, YouTube – with Richard Brown Available at: http://www.youtube.com/user/consciousnessonline Texts Studied: None. Another great course for the person looking to get into the subject, Brown's course looks at the history of ideas in order to introduce them, looking at the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant. Brown is a lecturer with a real talent for explaining difficult ideas and his format with PowerPoint slides containing notes is very useful. What I am including is officially two as his 'Ethics' course features unique lectures, but I am placing them together as one due to lectures they have in common; the ethics side of the course looks at historically important theories in normative ethics such as Moral relativism, Aristotelian virtue ethics, Kantian deontology and Utilitarianism. On the downside, Brown is quite a dry lecturer and there is no way to access or get a summary of the lectures outside of the videos themselves. Recommended for all. Death, Yale University – with Shelley Kagan Available at: http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176 Texts Studied: Phaedo (Plato), A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality (John Perry), The Death of Ivan Illyich (Leo Tolstoy) Yale's Death, along with Harvard's Justice, is the best free online course on philosophy. The course covers everything that you could possibly ask it to: dualism vs materialism; whether or not the soul is immortal; personal identity theory; if and why death is bad; and finally suicide. As opposed to Sandel's neutral Socratic approach, Kagan uses, and perfects the lecture method, accepting only a few questions during the semester in his analysis of the arguments. Kagan is open about his beliefs and the whole course is effectively an argument for them, drawing upon great thinkers and ideas throughout history in the process. Kagan is an entertaining lecturer and the course is a delight to watch. Highly recommended for all. Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature, Yale University – with Tamar Gendler Available at: http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-181 Texts Studied: The Republic (Plato); Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle); Enchridion (Epictetus), Utilitarianism (JS Mill); Groundwork (Immanuel Kant); The Trolley Problem (JJ Thomson); Moral Luck (Thomas Nagel); Introduction to Philosophy (Louis Pojman); Leviathan (Thomas Hobbes); A Theory of Justice (John Rawls); Anarchy, State and Utopia (Robert Nozick) Along with Death, Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature is the other course run by the philosophy department to available on Open Yale Courses. The course looks at ethics and political philosophy and compares the conclusions drawn in famous texts with those of influential psychologists. The course presents the ideas clearly and is a refreshing look at philosophy's relation to other subjects. Highly recommended for all who are interested in psychology. Introduction to Political Philosophy, Yale University – with Stephen B. Smith Available at: http://oyc.yale.edu/political-science/plsc-114 Texts Studied: Apology (Plato); Crito (Plato); The Republic (Plato), The Politics (Aristotle); The Prince (Nicolo Machiavelli); Leviathan (Thomas Hobbes); Second Treatise of Government (John Locke); Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (Jean Jacques-Rousseau); The Social Contract (Jean- Jacques Rousseau); Democracy in America (Alexis de Tocquesville) Unlike Death and Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature, Political Philosophy is run by the Political Science department. Still, the course does cover political philosophy and offers great introductions to the texts that it studies. This course is more of an exposition of ideas in specific texts rather than a look at the ideas themselves but Smith does a good job of explaining them well and occasionally does make reference to “third author” commentaries. Recommended only for those studying the specific texts. Critical Thinking, YouTube – with Jason J. Campbell Available at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7CD9978B8B5BC099 Texts Studied: None A course intended to teach basic concepts related to critical thinking, but it is not very good at it. Campbell covers syllogism; the three forms of analogy; interwoven arguments; nonmonotonic logic; and logical reconstruction. Although Campbell is straightfoward and enthusiastic, he is not concise in his presentation of his ideas, and the ideas he presents are of little relevance to critical thinking. Not recommended except for the casual student of logic. Courses I Have Viewed in Part The Modern Intellectual Tradition, The Great Courses – with Lawrence Cahoone Available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/youngenicson/videos?view=0&flow=grid Texts Studied: None The Modern Intellectual Tradition is one of the courses available for purchase by the company The Great Courses, but fortunately for pirates like me on a $0 budget, YouTube user “youngenicson” has uploaded it online, part of it anyway, with 21 of the 36 lectures available. Though incomplete, what we do have is very high quality viewing, with Cahoone proving to be one of the most engaging and informative lecturers around. The material itself is effectively a history of modern philosophy since Descartes but few express it with the clarity and concision of Cahoone. Highly recommended for all. Introduction to Philosophy, Marist College – with Gregory B. Sadler Available at: https://www.youtube.com/course?list=EC24E8CD3214E5C748 Texts Studied: Apology (Plato); Crito (Plato); Euthyphro (Plato); The Republic (Plato); Metaphysics (Aristotle); Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle); Enchridion (Epictetus); Proslogion (Anselm); Summa Theologiae (Tomas Aquinas); Meditations (Rene Descartes); Groundwork (Immanuel Kant); Fear and Trembling (Kierkegaard) Like Yale's Introduction to Political Philosophy, Marist's Introduction to Philosophy is more of an exposition of ideas in specific texts rather than a critique or discussion of them. Sadler presents the ideas with clarity and is quite knowledgeable about the topics, although he is unfortunately slow and dry in his teaching style. Recommended only for students of ancient ethics. Televised Philosophy Men of Ideas, BBC, 1978 – with Bryan Magee Available at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6551B2451C4D4661 Bryan Magee's Men of Ideas is a series of 15 interviews that he conducted with 15 of the world's most influential living thinkers of the time who each present their ideas. The names he manages to obtain are truly staggering: the likes of WVO Quine, Hilary Putnam, AJ Ayer and Noam Chomsky each get a 45 minute interview with philosophy's Carl Sagan. Unfortunately only 10 of the interviews are uploaded but the series is not interconnected, so it is not so great a loss as in the case of Lawrence Cahoone's The Modern Intellectual Tradition. These interviews are a treat to watch and amongst the best introductions to the thinkers who expound their ideas in them. Highly recommended for all. The Great Philosophers, BBC, 1984 – with Bryan Magee Bryan Magee's sequel series to the classic Men of Ideas, The Great Philosophers is for all practical purposes a course on the history of philosophy, with a focus upon the thinkers themselves as opposed to traditions or schools. Unlike a course however, The Great Philosophers is, like Men of Ideas, a series of interviews with world leading scholars on the philosophers being looked at, this means that the people speaking about them incredibly knowledgeable but Magee as the interviewer is able to give them a common connection you will find in a course. The thinkers' ideas are expressed in decent detail and in plain English and offer the same sort of enjoyment as Men of Ideas. Highly recommended for all. Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness, Channel Four, 2000 – with Alain de Botton Available from: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7857933243B7D31B Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness is a TV adaptation of Alain de Botton's simultaneously published book The Consolations of Philosophy. De Botton manages to condense the ideas of the 270 page book into a 130 minute documentary and the content it covers comes from a diverse range of authors on a topic all can relate to – happiness. The ideas are a little simplified, but the content itself is still interesting nonetheless and an entertaining series by any standard. Recommended for all. Philosophy Podcasts History of Philosophy without any Gaps