Introduction to Philosophy: God, Knowledge and Consciousness

Learn how to ask and answer big questions. Pursue a verified certificate to have your work graded and commented upon by professional philosophers.

Introduction to Philosophy: God, Knowledge and Consciousness

Learn how to ask and answer big questions. Pursue a verified certificate to have your work graded and commented upon by professional philosophers.

This philosophy course has two goals. The first goal is to introduce you to the things that philosophers think about. We will look at some perennial philosophical problems:

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  • Is there a God?
  • What is knowledge, and how do we get it?
  • What is the place of our consciousness in the physical world?
  • Do we have free will?
  • How do we persist over time, as our bodily and psychological traits change?

The second goal is to get you thinking philosophically yourself. This will help you develop your critical reasoning and argumentative skills more generally. Along the way we will draw from late, great classical authors and influential contemporary figures.

To help enhance your learning experience, this course offers instructor grading. If you choose to pursue a verified certificate, a professional philosopher will carefully read, grade and comment upon your work.

Though all residential philosophy courses at MIT, and other major universities, offer instructor grading, this is an innovation in the world of MOOCs. Students will test their ideas against, and receive individual advice from, professional philosophers. We believe that this is the best way to learn philosophy.

Verified learners will be eligible for the MITx Philosophy Award and (for students presently in high school) the MITx High School Philosophy Award. The awards will be given for outstanding written work by the MIT Philosophy Department. In addition, award winners will be profiled on the MIT Philosophy website.

  • There is no monetary reward associated with MITx Philosophy Award and the MITx High School Philosophy Award, however you will receive a certificate and a profile on the MIT Philosophy website
  • Winners’ profiles will be listed for a minimum of one year on the MIT Philosophy website

What you'll learn

  • How to construct and analyze philosophical arguments
  • How to write clearly and communicate complicated ideas effectively
  • Arguments for and against the existence of God
  • The distinction between epistemic and practical rationality
  • Theories of Knowledge
  • Physicalist and Non-Physicalist theories of consciousness
  • Free Will and Determinism
  • Personal Identity

Meet your instructors

  • Featured image for Caspar Hare
    Professor of Philosophy
  • Featured image for David Balcarras
    Digital Learning Lab Fellow

Who can take this course?

Because of U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) restrictions and other U.S. federal regulations, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea and the Crimea, Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic regions of Ukraine.