Introduction to Philosophy: Exploring Fundamental Questions

We'll start the course by thinking about what Philosophy actually is: what makes it different from other subjects? What are its distinctive aims and methods?

We all live with some sense of what is good or bad, some feelings about which ways of conducting ourselves are better or worse.

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge; what it is, and the ways we can come to have it.

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The laws of a state govern what we can and cannot do within that state. But do we have an obligation to obey those laws?

Much of what we think about the world we believe on the basis of what other people say. But is this trust in other people's testimony justified?

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If you're reading this, then you've got a mind. But what is a mind, and what does it take to have one?

In this module we will explore a central and ongoing debate in contemporary philosophy of science: whether or not scientific theories are true. Or better, whether a scientific theory needs to be 'true' to be good at all.

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We typically feel that the actions that we make are the result of our own free choices. But what if those actions are simply the end result of a long chain of cause and effect?

In this module we'll think about some issues in metaphysics, a branch of philosophy that investigates the ways that reality could intelligibly be. Our case study will be the possibility, or otherwise, of time-travel.

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