Philosophy and Critical Thinking

By Prof. Gyan Prakash | Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India

Learners enrolled: 1245 | Exam registration: 136

ABOUT THE COURSE:

This course will give an overview of the major classical Western and Indian philosophical viewpoints to bring the significance of human thoughts to the fore. The goal of this course is to develop critical thinking skills. This course's content is arranged so that anyone can comprehend it easily. In this course, I will discuss the philosophical concepts from Western and Indian Philosophical schools of thought, where philosophers have built powerful arguments through very simple thought processes. Therefore, this course is essential for critical thinking skills. In this course, I will give an overview of classical Western and Indian philosophical schools. This course does not require prior knowledge of philosophy. Anyone can join this course.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: General, UG Students from all streams

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	20 Jan 2025
End Date :	11 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends :	27 Jan 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	14 Feb 2025
Exam Date :	03 May 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction to Philosophy

Week 2: Pre Socrates Philosopher and Socrates, Plato’s idea of idea and Aristotle

Week 3: Rene Descartes argument of Self, Spinoza’ notion of self

Week 4: Lock and Hume’s critical argument for Self

Week 5: Introduction to Ethics, Hedonism, Utilitarianism

Week 6: Mill on happiness, Kant on duty

Week 7: Introduction to various Indian philosophical systems, Vedas and Upani?ads, Atman and Brahman,

Week 8: Sankara on the absolute, Self, Maya and world

Week 9: Ramanuja: qualified non-dualism and self and Refutation of Maya

Week 10: Buddhism: Four noble truths, doctrine of dependent of origination, Self, Theory of perception

Week 11: Samkhya: Purusa and Prakrti

Week 12: Jainism: Self, anekantavada, syadavada, kaivalya

Books and references

1. Thilly, F., A History of Philosophy, Central Book Depot, Allahabad, 1984

2. Sinha, Jadunath. Outlines of Indian Philosophy. Varanasi: Pilgrim Publishing, 1999.

3. Hiriyanna, M, The Essentials of Indian Philosophy, George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London, 1949.

Instructor bio

Prof. Gyan Prakash

Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India

Prof. Gyan Prakash is an Associate Professor of Indian Philosophy at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad, Jharkhand. His areas of research include Indian Philosophy and Religion. He has published 18 papers in reputed national/international journals. He is co-editor of Ecocultural Ethics: Critical Essays (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017). Prof. Gyan Prakash has completed one research project and currently working on two different research projects. He is a recipient of the Erasmus+ MOBILE UNLIMITED scholarship for visiting faculty, 2019 (at Universidade do Porto - Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Portugal) and Award for Associateship of the U.G.C Inter-University Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences (IUC) for the year 2018, Indian Institute of Advance Study, Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla. He was a Member of the Board of Studies (Academics), The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in 2023.

Prof. Gyan Prakash earned his Ph.D. from IIT Bombay. His research area is focused on the nature of mind and action, identifying or critiquing the ontological qualities of humans. He received Award for Excellence in Thesis Work from IIT Bombay. He has completed Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Master of Arts in Philosophy from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: May 3, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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