Introducing philosophy

by Open University

This 8-hour free course introduced the study of philosophy and the methods employed by The Open University in teaching philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

26 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2016

Reviews

[Malola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, short, short.

So, yeah, the point of the book is to give an idea of what the course will be about. If it were a regular book I'd critisize its lenght.
With that said, I liked the approach of the author. Simple terms for beginners, but not condescending. Very interesting topic for which she used Berlin's theories. (Him being one of the best philosophers that has ever lived is a good source.)
It's definitely a good beginning.

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good if you want to studying philosophy at the OU

This book is a good introduction if you want to study Philosophy at the OU (Yes I know it says that on the lid ;-)) but if you just look for more information about philosophy it doesn't hit the mark.

However, the exercises are a great way to start using your intellect and maybe even find answers.

[Anna Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and simple

This book was simple and explained details that are helpful for beginners in philosophy. I highly recommend for those who would like to dabble in their free time or for learning purposes.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little thing.

[Cristina Costea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good!

-well explained key terms and examples that illustrate
positive and negative freedom, how they can actually be bad.
-interesting and well written.

[Antonomasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, in the guise of a free Kindle book, is a small brochure about an OU course, which appears to deal largely with ethics. It includes a brief summary of the course approach, and some study material and brief exercises on one topic. It is not a full course, or a basic guide to philosophy in itself. On my Kindle desktop app it had only six full 3-column pages, plus several others with only one or half a column. The item description should be clearer about its brevity & contents.

The material here I would consider upper-tier GCSE to AS-level standard, and it seems on a par with other level 1-2 OU courses. I was only having a look because it was free, and I'm not, in fairness, the target audience: e.g. I thought the discussion of Isiah Berlin's positive & negative freedom could have been broadened using a comparison with Rawls' freedom from & freedom to - but it was fine as a summary of Berlin's theory.

[Stephen Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

One word about this book: Brief

[Brenda R Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophy Is My Major

Great points made about critical thinking. I even learned about positive vs negatives freedom. I definitely recommend this book, even as a gernetal read.