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  1. Navigate Home
  3. Television

  4. Big Questions of Philosophy

TELEVISION

Big Questions of Philosophy

Series: Great Courses
4.5
(71)
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Episodes
36
Rating
TVPG
Year
2016
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

We have all pondered seemingly unanswerably but significant questions about our existence - the biggest of all being, "Why are we here?" This course gives you the tools to follow and create logical arguments while exploring famous philosophers' viewpoints on these important questions. Join Plato, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Mill, Marx, and many others in an exploration of fundamental questions.

Related Subjects

  • Educational

Episodes

1. How Do We Do Philosophy?

30m

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The first four lectures of the course pose the big question: What is philosophy? Start by exploring the kinds of problems that philosophy addresses, the way philosophy works, and the distinction between philosophy and opinion. Discover that philosophy is arguably the most important pursuit there is.

2. Why Should We Trust Reason?

30m

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Hone your philosophical thinking by identifying the categories of fallacious reasoning that ensnare us all. Investigate examples of gut-thinking, confirmation bias, appealing to ignorance, the correlation fallacy, begging the question, and equivocation. Learn how to check your reasoning for flaws.

3. How Do We Reason Carefully?

30m

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Avoiding fallacious reasoning is just the beginning of philosophical thinking. Go deeper by studying the rules of deduction and induction. In the process, learn Aristotle's three axioms of logic, the difference between truth and validity, common mistakes in logical arguments, and why practically all scientific arguments are inductive.

4. How Do We Find the Best Explanation?

30m

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Explore the power of abduction, a form of induction also known as inference to the best explanation, that is used not only by philosophers, but also by doctors to make medical diagnoses and scientists to construct theories. Even Sherlock Holmes-the master of deduction-really practiced abductive inference.

5. What Is Truth?

30m

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Now begin a section of the course devoted to the big question: What is knowledge? Start with the problem of defining truth. Investigate three philosophical theories that attempt to pin down this elusive concept: pragmatism, coherentism, and the correspondence theory.

6. Is Knowledge Possible?

30m

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Having covered ways of gaining evidence and justifying belief in pursuit of knowledge, now ask: Is knowledge really possible? See what Plato had to say. Then delve into René Descartes' celebrated struggle with this problem, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of his position.

7. What Is the Best Way to Gain Knowledge?

30m

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Put empiricism to the test as the best way to acquire knowledge. Study the ideas of John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume, together with the response of Immanuel Kant, before settling on the most effective route to understanding the world as it is.

8. Do We Know What Knowledge Is?

30m

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Address a famous problem concerning the nature of knowledge, posed by contemporary philosopher Edmund Gettier. Use different thought experiments to test the traditional definition of knowledge. Discover firsthand the bafflement and enlightenment that comes from doing philosophy.

9. When Can We Trust Testimony?

30m

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In this section, put what you've learned to work by asking the big question: Can religious belief be justified? Start with Hume's argument that testimony can never justify a belief that a miracle has occurred. Analyze the flaws in Hume's reasoning, and think about whether his conclusion still holds.

10. Can Mystical Experience Justify Belief?

30m

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Look at the phenomenon of religious experiences, pondering whether such events justify belief. Find that practically all religions have religious experiences, but the beliefs they lead to can be radically different. Can "feeling the touch of God," like Jules in Pulp Fiction, justify religious belief?

Extended Details

  • SeriesGreat Courses
  • Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

David JohnsonWriter
David Kyle JohnsonActor