Justice by Harvard University on edX
The first MOOC course I ever took was one foundation course for legal studies at Harvard. Justice by Professor Michael J. Sandel is basically a political and moral philosophy course.
Besides the exciting moral arguments and the adaptation of centuries old moral philosophy cases to current issues, this course really teaches you to argue and defend your opinion.
Like why do I think that making it possible to sell one’s kidney on the open market is a bad idea? I know I think it is, but I was having a hard time explaining why within the course’s conceptual framework.
Or, is there a way to form an opinion about same sex marriage that has nothing to do with morals? At first I answered, sure, I believe in equality, I believe we all have the same rights, on these grounds I say let everybody marry whomever they want, and at the same time I could morally condemn homosexuality (WHICH I DO NOT!). Then I was challenged with a provoking follow-up question (that I will not reveal here, so you’ll have to take to course to find out) and my whole reasoning was blown off.
The skills of arguing and debating are very important skills in every profession, or even in our private lives. If you take this course, you will never think about them the same way again.
Technically, the course involved videos, that were actually recorded in the classrom, so oftentimes we hear students’ opinions, and debates about certain issues.
Besides the videos there were – sometimes quite long – reading to do. It contained original texts from philosophers, excerpts from Professor Sandel’s book, and case studies.
After the lectures there were thought-provoking prompts that you had to answer in the Forum where you could discuss your opinion with others.
There were quizes after every week’s lectures and reading, with questions from the current material and the results counted in your progress.
I really liked that the staff and Professor Sandel gave regular feedback. There were weekly forum digests from the staff, where they explained some of the most interesting forum discussions, and Professor Sandel even held two live chats during the course.
At the end of the course there was a long final exam from the whole course material, and its difficulty could fit any actual university course.
I have studied moral philosophy and all kinds of philosophies during my two university studies, but none of them were this engaging and enjoyable.
To my knowledge there were two courses of Justice on edX so far, I took part in the very first one during the spring semester of 2013 and also earned a certificate:
In conclusion, I have to say I was really glad that this was my first experience with a MOOC. It was a greatly structured one, I really learned a lot, and it really made me even more enthusiastic to use this unique platform for widening my knowledge.
(Not stricktly on topic, but I have to add that it was during this course that I decided to visit the auto-icon of Jeremy Bentham at University College London, and that I actually did this January.)
