This course will introduce you to the Western philosophical tradition through the study of thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Cavendish, Hume, and Kant. You'll grapple with questions that have been significant to philosophy from its beginnings: Questions about the nature of the mind, the existence of God, the foundations of knowledge, and the good life. You'll also observe changes of intellectual outlook over time, and the effect of scientific, religious, and political concerns on the development of philosophical ideas.

Step-by-Step instructions for collaboratively annotating a public-domain text in your course and sharing it with the world.

This video explains the teachings of Confucius. Education is the path to moral excellence, which is central to building a harmonious society. Education is a lifelong process and the purpose of learning is to acquire virtues.

What is Britain now? Its metropolises are increasingly multicultural. Its hold over its distant colonies is a thing of the past. Its sway within the global political arena is weak. Its command over Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland is broken or threatened. What have novelists made of all this? What are they writing as the old empire fades away and as new social and political formations emerge? These are the questions that will concern us in this course.

Central to our era is the gradual movement of all the world's regions toward a uniform standard of economic and political development. In this class we will read a variety of recent narratives that partake of, dissent from, or contribute to this story, ranging from novels and poems to World Bank and IMF statements and National Geographic reports. We will seek to understand the many motives and voices – sometimes congruent, sometimes clashing – that are currently engaged in producing accounts of people in the developing world: their hardships, laughter, and courage, and how they help themselves and are helped by outsiders who may or may not have philanthropic motives. Readings will include literature by J. G. Ballard, Jamaica Kincaid, Rohinton Mistry, and John le Carré, as well as policy documents, newspaper and magazine articles, and the Web sites of a variety of trade and development commissions and organizations.

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes neurosurgeon Allan J. Hamilton for a discussion of his new book: the Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural and the Healing Power of Hope. Focusing on his intellectual and spiritual odyssey, Dr. Hamilton offers insights into the craft of surgery and discusses how his patients have broadened his understanding of the human condition, the resilience of the human spirit, the healing process, and the world beyond science. (58 minutes)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes biblical scholar Bart Ehrman for a discussion of his intellectual odyssey with a focus on how the Bible explains the problem of human suffering. The conversation includes a discussion of the challenges of biblical interpretation when confronting this age old problem of the human condition. Included are topics such as the contribution of the prophets, a comparison of the old and new testaments, the book of Job, and the emergence of apocalyptic writers. (57 minutes)

Philosopher and education theorist Joseph Tussman talks about the nature of learning, teaching, and political discourse. (56 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Father J. Brian Hehir for a discussion of the role of religion in framing ethical issues in a nuclear age. (56 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Harvard philosophy professor T.M. Scanlon for a discussion of freedom of expression, tolerance, and human rights. (53 minutes)

Tim White, Professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley, joins host Harry Kreisler for a discussion of how science is changing our understanding of mankind's origins. (53 min)

Conversations with History and Host Harry Kreisler welcome UC Berkeley Professor of Philosophy John R. Searle who talks about the work of a philosopher, critical thinking, and lessons of the Free Speech Movement. (58 min)

Classicist and columnist Victor Davis Hanson talks with UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler about the classics, war, and what we stand for in the post-9/11 world. (56 min)

Conversations Host Harry Kreisler welcomes philosopher Martha Nussbaum for a discussion of women and human development, religious freedom, and liberal education. (55 min)

This is an online course in experimentation as a method of the empirical social sciences, directed at science newcomers and undergrads. We cover topics such as:
- How do we know what’s true?
- How can one recognize false conclusions?
- What is an experiment?
- What are experiments good for, and what can we learn from them?
- What makes a good experiment and how can I make a good experiment?

The aim of the course is to illustrate the principles of experimental insight. We also discuss why experiments are the gold standard in empirical social sciences and how a basic understanding of experimentation can also help us deal with questions in everyday life.

But it is not only exciting research questions and clever experimental set-ups that are needed for experiments to really work well. Experiments and the knowledge gained from them should be as freely accessible and transparent as possible, regardless of the context. Only then can other thinkers and experimenters check whether the results can be reproduced. And only then can other thinkers and experimenters build their own experiments on reliable original work. This is why the online course Open for Insight also discusses how experiments and the findings derived can be developed and communicated openly and transparently.

A pedagogical philosophy, also known as an educational philosophy or teaching philosophy, is a set of beliefs, values, and principles that guide an educator's approach to teaching and learning. It encompasses their views on the nature of education, the role of the teacher, the purpose of schooling, and how students learn best. A pedagogical philosophy serves as a foundation for an educator's instructional decisions, strategies, and interactions with students. Pedagogical philosophies can vary widely, as they are influenced by different educational theories, cultural contexts, and personal experiences. Using the stpes provided here, instructors can help their students to create their own pedagogical philsophy which has several benefits Including: a) critically reflecting on their own ideals, b) creating a valuable resource to include in their teaching portfolios. 

Are you confident you can reason clearly? Are you able to convince others of your point of view? Are you able to give plausible reasons for believing what you believe? Do you sometimes read arguments in the newspapers, hear them on the television, or in the pub and wish you knew how to confidently evaluate them? In this six-part course, you will learn all about arguments, how to identify them, how to evaluate them, and how not to mistake bad arguments for good. Such skills are invaluable if you are concerned about the truth of your beliefs, and the cogency of your arguments.

Culture, Embodiment, and the Senses will provide an historical and cross-cultural analysis of the politics of sensory experience. The subject will address western philosophical debates about mind, brain, emotion, and the body and the historical value placed upon sight, reason, and rationality, versus smell, taste, and touch as acceptable modes of knowing and knowledge production. We will assess cultural traditions that challenge scientific interpretations of experience arising from western philosophical and physiological models. The class will examine how sensory experience lies beyond the realm of individual physiological or psychological responses and occurs within a culturally elaborated field of social relations. Finally, we will debate how discourse about the senses is a product of particular modes of knowledge production that are themselves contested fields of power relations.

This course examines computers anthropologically, as artifacts revealing the social orders and cultural practices that create them. Students read classic texts in computer science along with cultural analyses of computing history and contemporary configurations. It explores the history of automata, automation and capitalist manufacturing; cybernetics and WWII operations research; artificial intelligence and gendered subjectivity; robots, cyborgs, and artificial life; creation and commoditization of the personal computer; the growth of the Internet as a military, academic, and commercial project; hackers and gamers; technobodies and virtual sociality. Emphasis is placed on how ideas about gender and other social differences shape labor practices, models of cognition, hacking culture, and social media.