Introducing Philosophy: understanding the basics

by The Open University

Ever wondered what it would be like to study philosophy? This ebook, Introducing understanding the basics, will introduce you to the teaching methods employed and the types of activities and assignments you would be asked to undertake should you wish to study philosophy and the human situation.



After reading this ebook, you should be able understand what is involved in the study of philosophy; offer arguments for and against the main positions discussed in the study of philosophy; and use philosophical reasoning techniques in a rudimentary way.

Genres: Religion, Philosophy

25 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2022

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another interesting free course and free ebook from the Open University, looking at the issue of the philosophy of religion. There are multimedia elements of the course that can be accessed through the openlearn website. It looks at the issue of philosophy of religion and some arguments for or against the existence of God and why and how we should think about the question. It then goes into more depth on Aquinas' second way (the uncaused cause argument).

There is a short discussion of logic, but I found that way to short - just an introduction to the concept of a sound argument.

The discussion of Aquinas' argument was a real strength of the course. Although only a small part of the whole, it did convince me there was more going on in the uncaused cause argument than I have generally thought in the past. I always found this an unsatisfying proof of the existence of God, because of certain objections that are easily made (such as "if God is the first cause, who caused God"). Yet the course shows that Aquinas considered these objections and the argument was more subtle than that.

When the new atheists dismiss these arguments, they show their ignorance of Aquinas. On the other hand, the course rightly then quotes Hume and introduces and element of doubt regarding infinities of causes. Infinities are tricky things, so we must approach with caution the idea that what is reasonable in the finite is also reasonable with infinities.

So ultimately I think the course sided with my own view that there are no valid and sound logical arguments for God's existence or non existence.

Anyway this is an interesting short course for anyone interested in the subject - but its little more than a taster into what is, naturally, an enormous subject.

[Shay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very insightful.