Philosophy
You know what's missing from your life? More philosophy. Sure, the practical benefits may not always be obvious (though they are most decidedly there), but philosophy deals with the deepest, the most elusive, the most important and the most interesting questions human beings can think of.
Here at the philosophy monkey blog, we've featured Michael Sandel's popular course on Justice before. Now we get to cross the ocean and switch from Harvard to Oxford, as philosopher Peter Millican gives us a fascinating overview of modern philosophy (with a beautiful English accent) in eight gripping lectures covering everything from the nature and sources of knowledge to skepticism of the external world, Cartesian dualism (and the mind-body problem), primary and secondary qualities, the problem of induction, free will and determinism, and the metaphysics of personal identity.
In today's first lecture, Professor Millican traces the history of philosophy from its roots in Ancient Greece and Rome, and how it would undergo a revolution in the 17th and 18th centuries, as great thinkers like Galileo and Descartes would rebel against the previously unchallenged authority of Plato, Aristotle and religious dogma, and would attempt to develop new and useful methods of inquiry. The world would never be the same again...
Click here to see the course slides.
- Lecture 6 - Primary And Secondary Qualities
No introductory philosophy course is complete without at least touching on the famous distinction between primary and secondary qualities originally proposed by Descartes, but explored in more detail by Locke, Berkeley and Hume. If you don't...
- Lecture 4 - Skepticism Of The External World
As you read this blog, you're probably working under the assumption that some guy, a so-called philosophy monkey, wrote this entry. You may not know who he is, but you're pretty sure he's not you. You probably think this because you're...
- Lecture 3 - David Hume And The Problem Of Induction
Look at Newton's cradle on the right and ask yourself this question: what justification do you have for thinking that it will continue to behave in the future the way it has behaved in the past? This is not something you know a priori, through pure...
- The Mark Steel Lectures - Aristotle
Perhaps no other philosopher has been as influential or original as the ancient philosopher Aristotle, and only the greatest have been as productive and consistent in their entire world view. It's one thing to have opinions about particular subjects...
- The Mark Steel Lectures - Descartes
Rene Descartes is indubitably (get it?) one of the most influential and ambitious thinkers of all time. Look at him looking all French... :) One of the contributions for which I admire him most is the unprecedented unification of algebra and geometry...
Philosophy
Peter Millican's Introduction to General Philosophy
You know what's missing from your life? More philosophy. Sure, the practical benefits may not always be obvious (though they are most decidedly there), but philosophy deals with the deepest, the most elusive, the most important and the most interesting questions human beings can think of.Here at the philosophy monkey blog, we've featured Michael Sandel's popular course on Justice before. Now we get to cross the ocean and switch from Harvard to Oxford, as philosopher Peter Millican gives us a fascinating overview of modern philosophy (with a beautiful English accent) in eight gripping lectures covering everything from the nature and sources of knowledge to skepticism of the external world, Cartesian dualism (and the mind-body problem), primary and secondary qualities, the problem of induction, free will and determinism, and the metaphysics of personal identity.
In today's first lecture, Professor Millican traces the history of philosophy from its roots in Ancient Greece and Rome, and how it would undergo a revolution in the 17th and 18th centuries, as great thinkers like Galileo and Descartes would rebel against the previously unchallenged authority of Plato, Aristotle and religious dogma, and would attempt to develop new and useful methods of inquiry. The world would never be the same again...
Click here to see the course slides.
And check out the rest of this excellent course.
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- Lecture 6 - Primary And Secondary Qualities
No introductory philosophy course is complete without at least touching on the famous distinction between primary and secondary qualities originally proposed by Descartes, but explored in more detail by Locke, Berkeley and Hume. If you don't...
- Lecture 4 - Skepticism Of The External World
As you read this blog, you're probably working under the assumption that some guy, a so-called philosophy monkey, wrote this entry. You may not know who he is, but you're pretty sure he's not you. You probably think this because you're...
- Lecture 3 - David Hume And The Problem Of Induction
Look at Newton's cradle on the right and ask yourself this question: what justification do you have for thinking that it will continue to behave in the future the way it has behaved in the past? This is not something you know a priori, through pure...
- The Mark Steel Lectures - Aristotle
Perhaps no other philosopher has been as influential or original as the ancient philosopher Aristotle, and only the greatest have been as productive and consistent in their entire world view. It's one thing to have opinions about particular subjects...
- The Mark Steel Lectures - Descartes
Rene Descartes is indubitably (get it?) one of the most influential and ambitious thinkers of all time. Look at him looking all French... :) One of the contributions for which I admire him most is the unprecedented unification of algebra and geometry...