philosophy
Hocbigg - Philosophy
Path to a free self-taught education in Philosophy!
Contents
Summary
The Philosophy curriculum is a complete education in Philosophy using online materials.
This curriculum provides a complete, self-paced education in Philosophy, equivalent in coverage and rigor to a 4-year undergraduate major (minus general-education requirements). You’ll develop competence across the major philosophical subfields—logic, ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, political philosophy, and the history of philosophy—while also training core skills: close reading, analytical writing, argument reconstruction, conceptual analysis, and research methods.
Note: When there are courses or books that don’t fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings or extras/other_curricula.
Organization
- Intro to Philosophy: Orientation, study habits, and broad exposure.
- Core Philosophy: Foundational courses covering the history of philosophy, formal logic, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, and political philosophy.
- Advanced Philosophy: Final-year style electives organized into specialization tracks.
- Capstone Project: A substantial research paper or philosophical project demonstrating mastery.
Duration. 1–2 years, assuming ~20 hours/week. Learners may speed up or slow down.
Process. Students can work through the curriculum alone or in groups, in order or out of order.
- We recommend doing all courses in Core, only skipping a course when you are certain that you’ve already learned the material previously.
- For simplicity, we recommend working through courses (especially Core) in order from top to bottom. Some students choose to study multiple courses at a time in order to vary the material they are working on in a day/week.
- The courses in the Advanced section are electives. Choose one track to specialize in and complete all the courses listed under it.
Communities
- Forums:
- Subreddits:
- Discord servers:
- Other:
- You can also interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.
Curriculum
Intro Philosophy
These courses test your interest, build study habits, and provide the conceptual on-ramp.
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Philosophy (University of Edinburgh, Coursera) | 6 weeks | 4–6 hr/wk | none | Great broad entry point |
| Justice (Harvard) | 12 weeks | 3–6 hr/wk | none | Canonical intro to political philosophy & moral reasoning |
| Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature (Yale OYC) | 24 lectures | ~6 hr/wk | none | Interdisciplinary taste of ethics, psychology, game theory |
Core Philosophy
This is the backbone of the major. Courses are ordered to provide logical progression; prerequisites are noted.
Logic & Critical Thinking
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Logic (Stanford Online / Coursera) | 10 weeks | 4–8 hr/wk | none | Symbolic logic: syntax, semantics, proofs |
| Logic: Language and Information (Stanford Online) | self-paced | 5–8 hr/wk | Intro Logic | Strengthens formal reasoning |
Textbook: Language, Proof and Logic (Barwise & Etchemendy).
Ancient Philosophy
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Greek Philosophy (MIT OCW) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | none | Plato, Aristotle, Pre-Socratics |
Early Modern Philosophy
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Early Modern Philosophers (Yale OYC: PHIL 176) | 24 lectures | 6–8 hr/wk | Ancient | Descartes → Hume → Kant foundations |
Ethics
(Normative & Applied)
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moralities of Everyday Life (Yale / Coursera) | 6 weeks | 6–8 hr/wk | none | Moral psychology + ethics |
| Ethics (MIT OCW 24.230) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | Intro Philosophy | Covers utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics |
Epistemology
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epistemology (MIT OCW 24.221) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | Intro Logic helpful | Knowledge, justification, skepticism |
Metaphysics
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metaphysics (MIT OCW 24.251) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | Logic, Intro Phil | Identity, universals, causation, time |
Political Philosophy
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Political Philosophy (Yale OYC: PL SC 179) | 24 lectures | ~6 hr/wk | none | Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Mill |
Philosophy of Mind
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosophy of Mind (MIT OCW 24.09) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | Logic | Consciousness, intentionality, AI, computation |
Philosophy of Science
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosophy of Science (University of Pennsylvania) | 6 weeks | 6–8 hr/wk | none | Scientific explanation, realism, models |
Philosophy of Language
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosophy of Language (MIT OCW 24.251) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | Logic | Reference, meaning, pragmatics |
Advanced
These are the advanced electives equivalent to upper-division seminars. Courses are all open. You may take more than one, but choose one for focus.
Ethics & Political Philosophy
Deep understanding of value theory, moral agency, justice, and political legitimacy.
Recommended courses:
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bioethics: Law, Medicine, and Ethics of Reproductive Technologies (Harvard) | 10–12 weeks | 4–6 hr/wk | Ethics | Applied ethics |
| The Moral Leader (Harvard) | 10–12 weeks | 4–6 hr/wk | none | Ethics via literature |
| Classical Sociological Theory (MIT OCW) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | none | Helpful background for political theory |
Metaphysics & Epistemology
Deeper engagement with analytic problems about reality and knowledge.
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paradox and Infinity (MIT OCW) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | Logic | Set theory, infinity, paradoxes |
| Metaphysics: Free Will (MIT OCW 24.221) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | Metaphysics | Freedom, determinism |
Textbook: Authoritative: Metaphysics (van Inwagen & Sullivan)
Philosophy of Science & Mind
Goal: Position philosophical inquiry within cognitive science, AI, and the sciences.
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cognitive Neuron (Harvard / edX) | 8 weeks | 6–8 hr/wk | none | Neuroscience grounding |
| Computational Neuroscience (Coursera) | 10 weeks | 6–8 hr/wk | none | Strong sci grounding |
| [Philosophy of Cognitive Science (Textbook)] | — | — | Mind | Textbook-based seminar |
Textbook: The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Cognitive Science
History of Philosophy
From Ancient → Modern → 19th/20th Century.
Goal: Build a historian-of-philosophy lens.
| Courses | Duration | Effort | Prerequisites | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger (MIT OCW) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | Early Modern | 19th/20th C thought |
| Existentialism in Literature & Film (MIT OCW) | self-paced | 6–8 hr/wk | none | Sartre, Camus, Kierkegaard |
Textbook: A History of Western Philosophy (Kenny)
Final Project
A capstone demonstrates mastery through a substantial scholarly contribution. This project is your equivalent of a senior thesis.
Congratulations
After completing the requirements of the curriculum above, you will have completed the equivalent of a full bachelor’s degree in Philosophy.
Congratulations!