Philosophy & Religious Studies

In this course, Dr Barney Walker (University of Warwick) considers three aspects of knowledge and belief. In the first three modules, we explore the idea of knowledge as justified true belief, focusing in particular on the concept of analysing...

In this course, Professor James Lenman (University of Sheffield) explores one of the key questions in meta-ethics: do objective moral reasons exist? After a brief discussion of what we mean when we talk about reasons, we spend the bulk of ...

In this course, Professor Yujin Nagasawa (University of Birmingham) discusses the concept and nature of God, focusing in particular on God’s ‘omni-attributes’: omniscience, omnipotence, and omnibenevolence. In the first module, we outline ...

In this course, Dr Iain Law (University of Birmingham) thinks about virtue ethics, one of the three major normative ethical theories alongside utilitarianism and Kantian deontological ethics. We begin in the first module by providing a broad...

In this course, Professor Genia Schönbaumsfeld (University of Southampton) explores the philosophy of the 19th-century Danish philosophy, Søren Kierkegaard. In the first module, we provide a brief introduction to Kierkegaard himself, before...

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, 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...

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...

Published in 1887, the Genealogy of Morality is the locus classicus of Nietzsche's criticism of contemporary morality and religion. The book is divided into three essays: the first deals with the origins of Christian and contemporary secular...

In this course, Professor John Marenbon (University of Cambridge) explores Medieval Philosophy through seven key thinkers. In the first module, we explore the philosophy of Avicenna, thinking in particular about his proof of existence of God and...

In this course, Professor David Sedley (University of Cambridge) explores Plato's Phaedo, in which several arguments are made for the immortality of the soul. We begin by providing a broad introduction to the dialogue, focusing in particular on...

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...