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Philosophy for Independent Scholars

Curriculum map

The Course of Study

You don’t have to do everything. Like an undergraduate major, the degree is breadth plus choice: begin with Start Here, then take at least two courses each in ancient or medieval, modern, and contemporary philosophy, add two electives, and finish with the capstone. Core marks the strongest choices in each section. See a sample path.

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Section 00

Start Here

What philosophy is, what Continental philosophy is, and a fast tour of the whole history before you begin.

Core resources: about 18 hrs

  1. Statement of IntentActivity, 20–30 minIntro
  2. How to Read Philosophy and TheoryDavid W. Concepción, Jim Pryor, and others — Reading, About 1 hourCore
  3. A Romp Through the History of PhilosophyMarianne Talbot · University of Oxford — Video, 1 hr 32 minCore
  4. Critical Reasoning: A Romp Through the Foothills of LogicMarianne Talbot · University of Oxford — Video, 6 lectures (about 6 hrs)Core
  5. Logic I (24.241)Ephraim Glick · MIT OpenCourseWare — Reading, Full semester (about 40 hrs)Elective
  6. From Socrates to Sartre: How Should We Live?Lee Braver · University of South Florida — Video, 9 lectures (about 9 hrs)Core
  7. Continental Philosophy: What Is It, and Why Is It a Thing?Ellie Anderson · Overthink Podcast — VideoIntro

Section 01

Ancient Philosophy

The Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic schools.

Core resources: about 64 hrs

  1. History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps: Classical Greece and Hellenistic Philosophy (Episodes 1–76)Peter Adamson · King's College London / LMU Munich — Podcast, ~76 episodes, 20 min eachCore
  2. Ancient Philosophy: Plato & His PredecessorsSusan Sauvé Meyer · University of Pennsylvania — Online course, 4 Weeks (about 14 hrs)Core
  3. Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle & His SuccessorsSusan Sauvé Meyer · University of Pennsylvania — Online course, 5 Weeks (about 18 hrs)Core
  4. Plato's Theaetetus: An Inquiry Into KnowledgeRichard Polt · Xavier University — Video, 5 lectures (about 7 hrs)Core
  5. Live Like a Philosopher: Ethics and Civics in the Ancient WorldTushar Irani · Wesleyan University — Video, 20 lectures (about 10 hrs)Elective
  6. A History of Philosophy: Greek and Hellenistic Lectures (1–18)Arthur F. Holmes · Wheaton College — Video, 18 lectures (about 14 hrs)Elective

Section 02

Medieval Philosophy

Christian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophy from Augustine to Scotus.

Core resources: about 46 hrs

  1. History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps: Late Antiquity (Episodes 101–119)Peter Adamson · King's College London / LMU Munich — Podcast, 19 episodes (about 6 hrs)Core
  2. History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps: Philosophy in the Islamic World and Jewish Philosophy (Episodes 120–170)Peter Adamson · King's College London / LMU Munich — Podcast, 51 episodes (about 17 hrs)Core
  3. History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps: Medieval Latin Philosophy (Episodes 196–264)Peter Adamson · King's College London / LMU Munich — Podcast, ~69 episodes (about 23 hrs)Core

Section 03

Modern Philosophy

Descartes to Nietzsche: the new science, Kant's revolution, Hegel, Marx, and the death of God.

Core resources: about 100 hrs

  1. The Birth of Modern PhilosophyPeter Millican · University of Oxford — Video, 16 minIntro
  2. From Descartes to Nietzsche: The Birth of Science and the Death of GodLee Braver · University of South Florida — Video, 7 lectures (about 7 hrs)Core
  3. Descartes's MeditationsArthur F. Holmes · Wheaton College — Video, 2 lectures, 1 hr 34 minCore
  4. In Our Time: SpinozaMelvyn Bragg, John Cottingham, Sarah Hutton, Jonathan Rée · BBC Radio — Podcast, 45 minCore
  5. Hume's Central PrinciplesPeter Millican · University of Oxford — Video, 7 hrs 3 minCore
  6. Introduction to Political Philosophy (PLSC 114)Steven B. Smith · Yale University — Video, 24 lectures (about 19 hrs)Core
  7. JusticeMichael J. Sandel · Harvard University — Video, 24 lectures (about 12 hrs)Elective
  8. Kant's Three QuestionsReed Winegar · Fordham University — Video, 8 lectures (about 8 hrs)Core
  9. Kant's Critique of Pure ReasonDan Robinson · University of Oxford — Video, 5 hrs 40 minElective
  10. Hegel's Phenomenology of SpiritJ.M. Bernstein · University of California, Berkeley — Audio, 27 hrs (approx)Core
  11. Lecture Course on Hegel's Phenomenology of SpiritRichard Dien Winfield · University of Georgia — Audio, Full semester (2011) (about 35 hrs)Elective
  12. Hegel's Science of LogicStephen Houlgate · Hegel Society of Great Britain — Video, 18 lectures (about 25 hrs)Elective
  13. German Idealism: Fichte and SchellingDaniel Bonevac · University of Texas at Austin — Video, 6+ lectures (about 6 hrs)Elective
  14. Søren KierkegaardJon Stewart · University of Copenhagen — Online course, 8 Weeks (about 20 hrs)Core
  15. Foundations of Modern Social Theory: Marx (Lectures 9–13)Iván Szelényi · Yale University — Video, 5 lectures (about 4 hrs)Core
  16. Reading Marx's Capital, Vol. 1, With David HarveyDavid Harvey · Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) — Video, 21 hrs 35 minElective
  17. Nietzsche Lectures by Prof. Raymond GeussRaymond Geuss · University of Cambridge — Video, 6 hrs 4 minCore
  18. Nietzsche and the Postmodern ConditionRick Roderick · Duke University — Audio, 8 lectures (about 6 hrs)Elective

Section 04

Phenomenology & Existentialism

Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, Beauvoir, and Fanon.

Core resources: about 213 hrs

  1. Introduction to PhenomenologyHusserl Archives · KU Leuven — Video, 5 units (about 5 hrs)Intro
  2. European Intellectual History Since Nietzsche (HIST 271)Marci Shore · Yale University — Video, ~25 lectures (about 21 hrs)Core
  3. Husserl and the Adventure of Phenomenology in Twelve MinutesEric Dodson — Video, 12 minIntro
  4. Phenomenology (Husserl's Ideas I, Being and Time, Totality and Infinity)Mark Thorsby — Video, 29 videos (about 15 hrs)Core
  5. Husserl and Merleau-Ponty (Fall 2009 Seminar)John D. Caputo · Syracuse University — Audio, 13 lectures, ~2.5 hrs eachArchivedCore
  6. Heidegger's Being and Time (Philosophy 185, Fall 2007)Hubert L. Dreyfus · University of California, Berkeley — Audio, 28 lectures (about 36 hrs)Core
  7. Later Heidegger (Philosophy 189)Hubert L. Dreyfus · University of California, Berkeley — Audio, 25 lectures (about 33 hrs)Elective
  8. Heidegger's "Question Concerning Technology"Hubert L. Dreyfus · University of California, Berkeley — Audio, 5 hrs 37 minElective
  9. Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception (Philosophy 188, Spring 2005)Hubert L. Dreyfus · University of California, Berkeley — Audio, 31 lectures (about 40 hrs)Core
  10. Existentialism in Literature and Film (Spring 2006)Hubert L. Dreyfus · University of California, Berkeley — Audio, ~27 lectures (about 35 hrs)Core
  11. Arendt's The Human Condition (Reading Group)Roger Berkowitz · Hannah Arendt Center, Bard College — Video, 19 sessions (about 28 hrs)Core
  12. Arendt's The Life of the Mind (Reading Group)Roger Berkowitz · Hannah Arendt Center, Bard College — Video, 17 sessions (about 25 hrs)Elective
  13. Arendt's Crises of the Republic (Reading Group)Roger Berkowitz · Hannah Arendt Center, Bard College — Video, 8 sessions (about 12 hrs)Elective
  14. Jean-Paul SartreArthur F. Holmes · Wheaton College — Video, 1 hr 6 minCore
  15. Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of AmbiguityTravis Ross · Houston Community College — Video, 1 hr 35 minCore
  16. Master Class on Frantz FanonLewis R. Gordon · University of Connecticut — VideoCore

Section 05

French Theory

Structuralism, Lacan, Foucault, Levinas, Derrida, and Deleuze.

Core resources: about 135 hrs

  1. Introduction to Theory of Literature (ENGL 300): Structuralism, Deconstruction, and LacanPaul H. Fry · Yale University — Video, 26 lectures (about 21 hrs)Core
  2. Derrida & Husserl: Lecture Notes on Speech and PhenomenaJohn Protevi · Louisiana State University — Reading, 18 lectures (about 12 hrs)Core
  3. Diane Davis on DerridaDiane Davis · European Graduate School — Video, 8 lectures (about 10 hrs)Core
  4. Derrida SeminarJohn D. Caputo · Syracuse University — Audio, ~17 lectures (about 42 hrs)ArchivedCore
  5. Levinas: On Escape and Totality and InfinityJohn D. Caputo · Syracuse University — Audio, 10 lectures (about 25 hrs)ArchivedCore
  6. Foucault: The Culture of the SelfMichel Foucault · University of California, Berkeley — Audio, 13 minCore
  7. Michel Foucault: Discourse and Truth (Parrhesia)Michel Foucault · University of California, Berkeley — Audio, 6 hours 18 minElective
  8. Chomsky–Foucault Debate: On Human NatureVideo, 1 hr, 10 minIntro
  9. The Deleuze SeminarsGilles Deleuze · University of Paris 8 (Purdue University edition) — Audio, 180+ lectures (about 20 hrs)Core
  10. Deleuze's Politics: Psychoanalysis, Anthropology, and Nomadology in Anti-Oedipus & A Thousand PlateausDaniel W Smith · Collegium Phaenomenologicum — Audio, 10 hrsElective
  11. Subject in LacanDerek Hook · Duquesne University — Video, 4 lectures and an epilogue (about 5 hrs)Core
  12. Lacan's The Subversion of the SubjectSamuel McCormick · San Francisco State University — Video, 7 lectures (about 7 hrs)Elective
  13. Lacan's Anxiety (Seminar X)Samuel McCormick · San Francisco State University — Video, 6 sessions (about 6 hrs)Elective
  14. Lacan and Sexual DifferenceSlavoj Zizek · European Graduate School — Video, 2 hrs 33 minElective
  15. The Event as Creative NoveltyAlain Badiou · European Graduate School — Video, 1 seminar in 13 parts (about 2.5 hrs)Elective
  16. Negation and Cinematic VertigoJacques Rancière · European Graduate School — Video, 1 seminar in 11 parts (about 2 hrs)Elective
  17. Lyotard: Hesitating ThoughtVictor J. Vitanza · European Graduate School — Video, 1 seminar in 19 parts (about 3 hrs)Elective

Section 06

Critical Theory & Decolonial Thought

The Frankfurt School, Benjamin, psychoanalysis, and anticolonial and Africana philosophy.

Core resources: about 107 hrs

  1. Introduction to Theory of Literature (ENGL 300): The Frankfurt School, Feminism, and Queer TheoryPaul H. Fry · Yale University — Video, 3 lectures (about 2.5 hrs)Core
  2. Walter Benjamin: Language, Memory, HistoryEli Friedlander · Tel Aviv University — Video, 6 lectures (about 9 hrs)Core
  3. Intro to Critical TheoryCCC Theory — Video, ~27 lectures (about 14 hrs)Core
  4. Freud and BeyondDonald L. Carveth · York University — Video, 6–8 lectures (about 10 hrs)Core
  5. History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps: Africana PhilosophyPeter Adamson and Chike Jeffers · King's College London / LMU Munich / Dalhousie University — Podcast, 142 episodes (about 47 hrs)Core
  6. Reading Frantz FanonGeo Maher · W.E.B. Du Bois Movement School / Haymarket Books — Video, 12-week seminar (about 24 hrs)Core
  7. Reading Black ReconstructionGeo Maher · W.E.B. Du Bois Movement School / Haymarket Books — Podcast, 12 classes (about 24 hrs)Elective
  8. African(a) and South Asian PhilosophiesVarious scholars · University of Oxford — Podcast, 8 episodes (about 4 hrs)Elective

Section 07

Feminist Philosophy

Beauvoir and after: sexual difference, gender, embodiment, oppression, and feminist critical theory.

Core resources: about 15 hrs

  1. Beauvoir's The Second Sex: IntroductionEllie Anderson · Overthink Podcast — VideoCore
  2. The Second Sex (HIST 271, Class 16)Marci Shore · Yale University — Podcast, 50 minCore
  3. Iris Marion Young on Structural InjusticeIris Marion Young · University of Chicago — Reading, 2 lectures (texts) (about 3 hrs)Core
  4. From Cyborgs to Companion SpeciesDonna Haraway · UC Berkeley (Avenali Lecture) — Video, 1 hr 14 minCore
  5. Human ShieldJudith Butler · London School of Economics — Video, 1 hr 28 minCore
  6. To Be Born: Birth, Existence, and ResponsibilityLuce Irigaray · London School of Economics — Video, 1 hr 26 minCore
  7. Three Faces of Capitalist Labor (Benjamin Lectures 2022)Nancy Fraser · Critical Theory in Berlin, Humboldt University — Video, 3 lectures (about 4 hrs)Core
  8. Closing the Door: Complaint as Diversity WorkSara Ahmed · University of Oxford (TORCH) — Video, 1 hr 1 minCore
  9. Memoirs of a Posthumanist (Tanner Lecture)Rosi Braidotti · Yale University — Video, 1 hr 4 minCore
  10. Staying With the Trouble: Making Kin in the ChthuluceneDonna Haraway · San Francisco Art Institute — Video, 1 hr 32 minElective
  11. Who's Afraid of Gender?Judith Butler · London School of Economics — Video, 1 hr 30 minElective
  12. Contact Zones: A Master Class in Continental PhilosophyRosi Braidotti · The Posthumanities Hub — Video, 1 hr 49 minElective
  13. The Future of the Humanities: Julia Kristeva in ConversationJulia Kristeva and Arnold Davidson · University of Chicago — Video, 1 hr 52 minElective
  14. Sex in a Shifting Landscape (Uehiro Lectures 2012)Janet Radcliffe Richards · University of Oxford — Audio, 3 lectures (about 3 hrs)Elective

Section 08

Electives

Go deeper, or sideways: philosophy courses outside the core sequence.

  1. Human, All Too Human: Nietzsche (BBC Documentary)BBC · BBC Documentary — Video, 51 minElective
  2. The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 1)Michael Roth · Wesleyan University — Online course, 7 weeks (3-5 hrs/week)Elective
  3. The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 2)Michael Roth · Wesleyan University — Online course, 9 weeks (3-5 hrs/week)Elective
  4. Philosophy of DeathShelly Kagan · Yale University — Video, 19 hrs (approx)Elective
  5. Aesthetics and Philosophy of ArtJames Grant · Oxford University — Audio, 7 hrs (approx)Elective
  6. Lecture Course on Marx, Nietzsche, and Hegel's Logic of EssenceRichard Dien Winfield — Audio, 30 hrs 30 minElective
  7. In Our Time: The Continental-Analytic SplitMelvyn Bragg, Hans Johann-Glock, Beatrice Han-Pile, Stephen Mulhall · BBC Radio — Podcast, 45 minElective
  8. Introduction to the Theory of Literature: The Postmodern PsychePaul Fry · Yale University — Video, 53 minElective

Section 09

Interdisciplinary Electives

Philosophy in conversation with history, science, religion, and art.

  1. bell hooks at The New Schoolbell hooks · The New School — Video, Long-form talks and dialogues, 2013–15 (about 6 hrs)Elective
  2. The Einstein RevolutionPeter Galison and Ion Mihailescu · Harvard University — Online course, 14 Weeks (5 - 7 hrs/week)Elective
  3. Sexing the Canvas: Art and GenderJeanette Hoorn · University of Melbourne — Online course, 9 weeks (4-6 hrs/week)Elective
  4. Contextualizing GenderRashmi Gaur · IIT Roorkee (NPTEL) — Video, 60 lectures (about 30 hrs)Elective
  5. Feminist WritingsAvishek Parui · IIT Madras (NPTEL) — Video, 51 lectures (about 25 hrs)Elective
  6. Postcolonial LiteratureSayan Chattopadhyay · IIT Kanpur (NPTEL) — Video, 20 lectures (about 10 hrs)Elective
  7. StructuralismRoger K. Green · Center for Critical and Cultural Theory — Video, 12 lectures (about 9 hrs)Elective

Section 10

Capstone

Write and share a philosophical essay.

Core resources: about 47 hrs

  1. How to Write an EssayMaggie Sokolik · University of California, Berkeley — Online course, 5 weeks (5-6 hrs/week)Core
  2. Present Your EssayActivityCore