Philosophy for Beginners

In this course, I will teach you the story of human philosophy encompassing an incredible 2500 years of philosophical history. By the end of this video, you will know all the basic philosophical ideas, schools and approaches, as well as some of the most influential philosophers from around the world. The video has 4 major parts and each with 2 or 3 sections, just like chapters in books.

In part 1, I will answer the most fundamental question. Why are humans the only species that have invented philosophy? Or where does philosophy really come from? Also how has philosophy evolved in the past 2500 years? And why philosophy has so many branches such as ontology, epistemology, rationalism, empiricism, humanism, utilitarianism, existentialism, postmodernism and more?

In part 2, I will look at the origin and differences between eastern philosophy and western philosophy. Why one emphasises spirituality, and changing yourself, while the other emphasises rationality, and changing the world . I will look at the Greek giants of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, as well as the three giants of eastern philosophy, the Buddha, Lao Tzu and Confucius.

In part 3, I will look at the philosophy of life and human civilisation. Is the purpose of human civilisation to promote equality or competition? Is the purpose of human life to seek knowledge or happiness? I will discuss philosophers such as Sun Tsu, Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Voltaire, Erasmus, Michel de Montaigne, Francis Bacon, Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, and Bertrand Russell.

In part 4, I will tackle the question of knowledge and human motivation. How do we know reality? I will discuss the school of European rationalism versus British empiricism and Kant’s reconciliation of the two. After Kant two distinct schools of philosophy emerged to explain human motivation. One sociological and one psychological. Hegel’s sociological philosophy argued we are motivated by historical forces, while Schopenhauer’s psychological philosophy argued we are motivated by a blind subconscious will.