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?
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?
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This course is an introduction to the problems of philosophy, the big questions that philosophers have been puzzled by for thousands of years, including:
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.
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.
David Balcarras is a Lecturer in philosophy and a Digital Learning Lab Fellow at MIT. He got his PhD in philosophy from MIT, and his MA and BA in philosophy from the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the philosophy of mind and language.