Thought that I would give this a go as I have found the idea of studying philosophy daunting all those ism's and specialised multi-syllable words. But, this introductory course was good and certainly plenty to think about. I am in-between courses at the moment and find myself at a loss not doing any structured studying so these tasters from the O.U. are brilliant at keeping the mental juices flowing and a welcome distraction from prep for the next course.
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Introducing philosophy
Ever wondered what it would be like to study philosophy? This unit...
Ever wondered what it would be like to study philosophy? This unit 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 the OU course A211 Philosophy and the human situation.
After studying this unit you should:
- have an awareness of what is involved in the study of philosophy, which enables you to offer arguments for and against the main positions discussed;
- have a rudimentary ability to use philosophical reasoning techniques.
- Duration: 8 hours
- Published on: Friday 24th June 2011
- Level: Introductory
- Posted under: Philosophy
Introducing philosophy
Introduction

This unit gives you an idea of what it is like to study philosophy, introducing you to the teaching methods employed by the Open University in teaching philosophy. If you are considering studying philosophy, we recommend you start here. Although the unit is mainly for people who are new to philosophy, you may find it helpful even if you already have some experience of the subject.
The following material was written by Maria Kasmirli as a short introduction to philosophy for students planning to enrol on the Open University course Philosophy and the human situation (A211). It contains quotations from the first A211 course book, written by Dr Nigel Warburton.
Philosophy and the human situation (A211) is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this subject area [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .
Archive content
This is an extract from an Open University course which is no longer available to new students. If you found this interesting you could explore more free Philosophy course units or view the range of currently available OU Philosophy courses.
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Comments
This was a good taster session. It's suitable for someone completely new; at introductory level. It explores the differences between positive and negative freedom, then concludes and gives advised further reading.
I assumed Plato or Socrates would be mentioned, as these are who I see when thinking of philosophy - but I'm brand new to the subject.
Recommended. Really liked it. Do it!
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- Creative-Commons: The Open University is proud to release this free course under a Creative Commons licence. However, any third-party materials featured within it are used with permission and are not ours to give away. These materials are not subject to the Creative Commons licence. See terms and conditions. Full details can be found in the Acknowledgements section.
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