Intro to Philosophy | November 2022
Introduction to Philosophy
Socrates & Plato | Stoicism & Epicureanism | Descartes & Hume
Course Description:
This course is a brief introduction to philosophy. It is more like a philosophy entertainment than a hardcore philosophy course. If you're in it for the tedious argumentation, then this course is not for you.
Over the span of three weeks, we will be surveying a variety of philosophical topics through the works of Plato, the Stoics, Epicureans, Descartes, and Hume.
Discussions will mainly revolve around the following questions: what is the value of philosophy? Can philosophy have practical uses in our everyday lives? What is the nature of reality? What can we know about the world? What are virtues, and how can we live a virtuous life?
Week 1. Plato: Definition Quest
- Euthyphro
Week 2. Hellenistic Philosophy: Ethics
- Stoicism, virtue in accordance with nature & eudaimonia
- Epicureanism, hedonism & ataraxia
Week 3. Modern Philosophy: Rationalism & Empiricism
- Descartes' dream
- Hume's habits
Sample Class from a previous course:
Website:
Instructors:
The course will be taught by:
- Mahmoud Rasmi (@decafquest): finished his Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Salamanca Spain. Between 2013 and 2020, he taught philosophy and cultural studies at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University. Now, he has decided to venture into the virtual world in order to give affordable classes online to people who are interested in studying philosophy in a non-academic setting.
Here’s a sample class on Stoicism from an Introduction to Philosophy online course:
Dates and Schedule:
- 3 weeks, once a week, 2 hrs per session.
- The course will start on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, and will end on Wednesday, November 23, 2022.
- Course Schedule: Wednesdays at 7:00 pm CET time.
- Synchronous online course via Zoom.
- Asynchronous: if you can't attend, you will have the option to watch the recorded lectures.
- Price: Free registration
- Capacity: 20 seats
Important information:
You will receive the link to the sessions a few days before the course starts.
Since I am not an institution, you will not be able to claim credits for the course. Many of you might also already be busy with your jobs and daily routine; as a result, we won’t be assigning any homework, exams, or papers. However, if any of you wishes to be assessed on the course material covered, we can arrange for the proper method and format in private.
The sessions will be recorded and uploaded to the DecafQuest YouTube channel as hidden. The links will be made shared with those registered.
A pdf including course details.