Philosophy

In this course, Professor Angie Hobbs (University of Sheffield) explores Plato's Apology, his account of Socrates' trial for 'corrupting the youth' and 'not believing in the gods the state believes in' in Athens in 399 BC. The course begins by...

In this course, Professor Adrian Moore (University of Oxford) explores Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals through eight key questions. In particular, we think about the fundamental difference between the three main strands of moral...

In this course, Professor Cottingham (University of Reading) explores René Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. In the first module, we provide a brief introduction to Descartes himself and his philosophical system, as described in his...

In this course, Professor Thomas Pink (King's College, London) explores the philosophical problem of free will. The course begins by thinking about what free will actually is, before going on to ask why free will is actually a problem for...

In this course, Professor Robert Stern (University of Sheffield) explores Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. The course begins with a discussion of Hegel's life and times and the political and philosophical context in which he lived, before...

In this course, Professor Susan James (Birkbeck, University of London) discusses Spinoza's Ethics, widely considered to be his magnum opus. In the first module, we think about Spinoza's ontological framework, including his remarkable claim that...

In this course, Professor Ken Gemes (Birkbeck, University of London) explores the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The course begins with the famous ‘death of God’ speech from ‘The Gay Science’, and focuses on what Nietzsche meant when he spoke...

In this course, Ms Kate Kirkpatrick (University of Oxford) explores Jean-Paul Sartre’s ‘Being and Nothingness’, a text regarded by many as one of the greatest works of 20th-century philosophy. Having introduced Sartre himself and the historical...

In this course, Professor Chris Janaway (University of Southampton) explores the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, focusing in particular on his World as Will and Representation. After a brief introduction to Schopenhauer’s philosophy in general...

In this course, Professor Tom Stoneham (University of York) explores the philosophy of George Berkeley, focusing in particular on his ‘Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge’ (1710) as well as his ‘Three Dialogues Between Hylas and...

In this course, Dr Sacha Golob (King’s College, London) explores the relationship between ethics and aesthetics. Must a work of art be morally good in order to qualify as ‘great’? Can morally bad works of art ever be considered great?...

In this course, Dr Anna Plassart (Open University) explores the Scottish Enlightenment. In the first module, we think about the Enlightenment as a whole—why it happened when it did, its principle goals and central doctrines—before moving on in the...