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The Big Questions of Philosophy
- Narrated by: David K. Johnson
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
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The Big Questions of Philosophy
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Summary
We have all pondered seemingly unanswerably but significant questions about our existence - the biggest of all being, "Why are we here?" Philosophy has developed over millennia to help us grapple with these essential intangibles. There is no better way to study the big questions in philosophy than to compare how the world's greatest minds have analyzed these questions, defined the terms, and then reasoned out potential solutions. Once you've compared the arguments, the final step is always deciding for yourself whether you find an explanation convincing.
This course gives you the tools to follow and create logical arguments while exploring famous philosophers' viewpoints on these important questions. Although progress has been made toward answers, brilliant thinkers have continued to wrestle with many big questions that inspire thoughtful people everywhere. These questions include: What is knowledge? Does God exist? Do humans have free will? What is right and wrong? How should society be organized?
Given the complexity of these big questions, it should be no surprise that many controversies are far from settled. In fact, by the end of these 36 lectures, you may be even less sure of the right answers to some of the questions than you were at the beginning. But being a philosopher means constantly testing your views - giving a reasoned defense if you believe you are right and modifying your ideas when you realize you are wrong. You'll discover that great thinkers before you have offered convincing answers to hard questions, philosophers after them have made equally persuasive objections, and then still others have refined the debate even further - causing the issues to come into sharper and sharper focus.
Join Plato, St. Anselm, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Mill, Smith, Marx, Rawls, and many others in an exploration of fundamental questions. Get ready to think big!
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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What listeners say about The Big Questions of Philosophy
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Leo
- 17-12-22
A tour de force
An absolutely outstanding deep consideration of some of the most important questions in life, with startlingly broad coverage, deep intellectual consideration, and genuine debate and consideration of different viewpoints. Although Prof. Johnson clearly has his own viewpoint - which he's explicit about and with which some of the reviews seem to have taken issue - the course is fundamentally based around deep debate over various perspectives, and he helps people develop the skills to evaluate ideas, including his own. A wonderful engagement in philosophy for everyone.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- shikha
- 27-05-16
very good
enjoyed listening to it..made me think a lot and fascinated me at some point..love the narrator
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Jayne Charlton
- 10-06-16
Excellent
This is an excellent overview of the quest for understanding the basic principles of philosophy. Just makes me want to continue in my quest for the real question!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- RB
- 20-10-17
Worth staying with it til the end
Overall really thought provoking content as well as arming you with tools for day to day functioning. Are bits that get a bit mind twisting/heavy in early/middle parts but well worth sticking it out to the final few chapters which were some of the most interesting to me anyway. Thank you.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ML
- 06-10-22
Excellent course
Very stimulating course engagingly presented.
Small gripe:as a non-US listener, the course should steer clear of stories and words that may not be understood by non-Americans.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Adisha
- 03-11-18
Intellectually Challenging lecture series!
Wow! This was a fantastic, challenging and highly thought-provoking lecture series that warrants multiple listens.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- fedgie
- 12-10-16
Scotsmen don't lie!
because we believe everything thing we say to be the truth! great listen gets you thinking and asking yourself questions!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mr Ben Bland
- 26-02-20
Comprehensive, Comprehensible, yet Compact
The second of Johnson's courses I've listened to, the other being 'Sci-Phi'. Both courses are excellent. He sets off at an eager pace and maintains it throughout, yet I never felt lost or left behind. As expected, the course raises more questions and ideas than answers but it left me feeling educated.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- N. M. Kosky
- 21-07-16
Excellent
Briefly- lucid, reasonably comprehensive and up to date. Very much recommended. Suitable for the non- expert.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-02-23
Unfortunately biased
It is clear that Johnson is very knowledgeable in his field and he is very good at presenting the material.. Unfortunately for anyone trying to learn how to deal with big questions, he presents the topics in a rather biased manner.. He will often present arguments in a way that makes his views seem like "the right answer" to these questions.. His bias is slanted towards materialism and atheism, and he will only include counter arguments which he can refute immediately after presenting them, while conveniently leaving out the types of arguments that a person in his philosophical position would struggle to face.. Ultimately it's not an outright bad course, but his bias is very disappointing and one should be aware of this bias before listening..
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3 people found this helpful