Online Philosophy Courses

EdX

Hi folks,

I'm going to give a round-up of certain Philosophy courses, offered by Coursera and EdX, which are starting soon (or have started recently), because I'm sure there are a few people here who would be interested in taking such courses.

Justice, offered by EdX on behalf of Harvard, offers an introduction to Justice and related concepts. It's described as follows:

EdX wrote:

Justice is a critical analysis of classical and contemporary theories of justice, including discussion of present-day applications. Topics include affirmative action, income distribution, same-sex marriage, the role of markets, debates about rights (human rights and property rights), arguments for and against equality, dilemmas of loyalty in public and private life. The course invites students to subject their own views on these controversies to critical examination.

The principal readings for the course are texts by Aristotle, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls. Other assigned readings include writings by contemporary philosophers, court cases, and articles about political controversies that raise philosophical questions.

EdX's second offering, and again from Harvard, is perhaps more suitably described as a literature course than a philosophy one, but there's certainly an overlap, and, when it comes to topics such as this, such distinctions are needlessly drawn. The Ancient Greek Hero surveys the classical concept of the hero and the human condition. A longer, more substantial course than Justice, it promises to be fascinating:

EdX wrote:

What is it to be human, and how can ancient concepts of the heroic and anti-heroic inform our understanding of the human condition? That question is at the core of The Ancient Greek Hero, which introduces (or reintroduces) students to the great texts of classical Greek culture by focusing on concepts of the Hero in an engaging, highly comparative way.

The classical Greeks' concepts of Heroes and the "heroic" were very different from the way we understand the term today. In this course, students analyze Greek heroes and anti-heroes in their own historical contexts, in order to gain an understanding of these concepts as they were originally understood while also learning how they can inform our understanding of the human condition in general.

Continue reading...

Coursera is offering at least two courses, starting shortly, which could be described as philosophical in their nature.

Know Thyself, offered by The University of Virginia, is described as "an investigation of the nature and limits of self-knowledge from the viewpoints of philosophy, psychoanalysis, experimental psychology, neuroscience, aesthetics, and Buddhism. Readings are drawn from classical Western, non-Western, and contemporary sources." The course is 10 weeks long, an entails 2-3 hours of video lectures per week.

Not strictly philosophy, but still of interest, is Wesleyan University's The Ancient Greeks. A 7 week long course, it's described as "a survey of ancient Greek history from the Bronze Age to the death of Socrates in 399 BCE. Along with studying the most important events and personalities, we will consider broader issues such as political and cultural values and methods of historical interpretation."

For a list of all of Coursera's course offerings, see here. EdX's offerings can be found here.

I'll keep this thread updated with philosophy-related courses as I become aware of them. If you wish to take part in one (or all!) of the above courses, then please feel free to offer any thoughts that you might have in this thread.

Black Swan

Not that I need another class with my current schedule, but the Harvard "Justice" class is free and the curriculum looks interesting.

I assume gvn that all the classes you plan to post on this thread will be free also? If so, that's grand. Methinks I will sticky it.

Black Swan

Black Swan wrote: »

Not that I need another class with my current schedule, but the Harvard "Justice" class is free and the curriculum looks interesting.

I assume gvn that all the classes you plan to post on this thread will be free also? If so, that's grand. Methinks I will sticky it.

Yep. All Coursera and EdX courses are free. The option to receive accreditation is available, but it costs as far as I'm aware. As I become aware of more philosophy-related courses from sites like Coursera and EdX I'll collate the relevant information and post it here. I'm taking Harvard's Justice and The Ancient Greek Hero courses myself. As far as I know, The Ancient Greek Hero is quite an expansive, substantial course; it requires somewhere in the order of 50 to 75 hours of work, according to its description.

Balf

Like a lot of people, I'm looking for a good distance/online course.

Has anyone any experience of the "Pathways to Philosophy" course, and anyone know of who the "International Society for Philosophers" is?

http://www.philosophypathways.com/programs/pack.html

On the face of it, it looks interesting. It's certainly much cheaper than pursuing an Open University or Birkbeck distance learning course.