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Problems of Philosophy
A tour through the big questions of philosophy. Does God exist? Do we have free will? Is morality objective? What is knowledge? What is the meaning of life?
Course Information
Format: Self-Paced
Estimated: 12 weeks, 3-5 hours per week
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About this Course
This course is an introduction to the problems of philosophy, the big questions that philosophers have been puzzled by for thousands of years, including:
- Does God exist?
- What is knowledge?
- Is morality objective?
- Do we have free will?
- Does justice require equality?
- Is the mind material?
- What is race?
- What is gender?
- What is the meaning of life?
- And more!
We will take a systematic rather than historical approach. We will read both classical and contemporary sources. But we will focus on examining and evaluating proposed solutions to these problems.
What you'll learn
- How to assess philosophical arguments
- Some central arguments for and against the existence of God
- The relationship between knowledge and belief
- How to think critically about important social and political concepts
- The basics of various subfields of philosophy (ethics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, metaphysics)
Meet your instructors
Alex Byrne
Professor of Philosophy
Alex Byrne is Professor of Philosophy in MIT’s Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. He has written widely in philosophy of mind and epistemology, and recently co-edited The Norton Introduction to Philosophy.
