The New Curiosity Shop

Have you ever wondered? Most people at some time wonder about the great questions in life:

What am I?
Why are we here?
Why is there something rather than nothing?
What can I know?

These questions have puzzled philosophers and others for thousands of years. Learn what they have to say about them and help yourself to unravel some of the problems.

The truth is out there, but will we ever find it?

Outline

1: What can we know
We think we know all sorts of things but often we only have belief. What are the criteria for kowledge as opposed to belief. Do we even know that the material world exists. Anything that we use as evidence will be part of that world and so cannot be evidence of it.

2: Mind and Body
What kinds of creatures are we? Do we have souls? What sort of thing is a mind? We look at some views of thinkers on this fundamental problem and see how these affect our views on morality and life in general.

3: Freedom and Determinism.
We look at the paradox between human freedom and and a deterministic universe. We distinguish between psychological and physical freedom. How does randomness affect our views? We ask are human beings thinking machines or are they something very different involving psychological states that machines will never have. Could parts of a human brain be replaced by computer chips if we had the technology?

Who should take this course?

Anyone who has ever wondered.

You will need

All materials are provided online in the course. The tutor does however recommend further reading along the way.

Entry Requirements

There are no formal entry requirements for this course.

How long is this course?

About 8 hours, and we suggest you set aside about 4 hours a week - but it's up to you. You will have tutor support for 2 months. You will have access to your course for a year.

Your tutor

Your tutor for this course is Jenni Jenkins. You can find out more about on the Tutors page.

Further information

Do you have any further questions? Visit our Contact Us page and ask away.