Embedded Files
There are altogether 6 topics in this course. The lecturer will use the 3-hr weekly lecture to teach whereas the tutor will meet you in four 1.5 hours tutorials to help you with the group presentation and perform discussion with you.
Assessment
Oral Presentation: a group of at most three students will give a 15-20 mins presentation on the views and background of a philosopher from an approved list of important philosophers. 25%
Essay: 500-800 words individual essay on a philosophical topic approved or assigned by the lecturer. 25%
Tutorial Participation: students will need to perform discussion with each other, under the tutor’s guidance.10%
2-hr Exam: consisting of MCQs, short questions and essay-type question. 40%
Essay question:
Identify a personal problem you encounter in HKU SPACE Community College that you consider having a philosophical foundation. Then explain whether and how AI can help you to solve that problem. (If you regard AI cannot deal with that problem, explain clearly the nature of the impossibility.)
Please carefully think about your arguments before you write your essay. A good philosophical/argumentative essay does not depend on the number of “points”. (Please read the guides of writing essays available on this webpage for more details.) Submit your essay through the assignment link on SOUL before the specified deadline (5pm 13/3/2026). You can see the similarity score when you submit. So, you can always resubmit with a better version before the deadline. Quotation and reference are not required; but if you quote or refer, please follow the instructions on style guides such as MLA or APA.
Course outline:
What is Philosophy
The theme of this introductory topic is how philosophical questions are different from those being asked in other subjects.
Metaphysics and Reality
The nature of the world is explained in terms of the contrast between appearance and reality, with an emphasis on the nature of dream.
Person and Identity
The identity and nature of humanhood is explained.
Religion and God
The philosophical foundation and the epistemological problems of religion are explored.
Freedom and the Will
Notions of personal and metaphysical freedom are analyzed, with emphasis on the implications of free will.
Truth
Philosophical ideas of truth are elaborated, with reference to its formalism and connection to the ideas of beauty and goodness.
Tips on revising:
1. You have at least one month to write the essay. Always try to give an honest and coherent view instead of quoting here and there from lecture notes or books. Also check the link TIPS ON WRITING ESSSAY about writing college essay and grading information. Late submission and plagiarism are things you should always avoid.
2. The presentation topic is something you choose to do and so should not pose a problem for you. Note that oral presentation is different from writing: fluency and engaging the audience are the two most important aspects. Arguably, it is quite impossible to say that the presenter plagiarizes unless she just reads out other's work. There are so many philosophers worthy of your attention. Try to choose one whom you know fairly well and is related to other courses. We don't restrict your choice to Western philosophers. So, you can pick Mencius or Confucius if your knowledge of Chinese philosophy is good enough. Here is a short list of philosophers picked by previous students: Aristotle, Plato, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Buddha, Marx, Descartes, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz, Russell, Wittgenstein. Please note that the presentation must be in English even though you have picked a Chinese philosopher.
3. Although you are given pptx and many learning links, the key to really learning philosophy is to read the original work: please make sure that you (try to) read the 10 essays/excerpts for the whole course. (Nowadays, AI can help you to understand difficult texts in many different ways.) Although you might have been conditioned to get summary (including textbook and Wikipedia) to prepare for DSE, such a method will defeat the whole purpose of studying philosophy. What and how the philosophers writes matter, not her views in summary. If you disagree, ask whether you would have really enjoyed and appreciated the Marvel movies if you only read the plots on the Wikipedia. Remember that if someone finds philosophy useless and time-consuming, she can always avoid it for the rest of her life.
Tutorial Schedule:
You have been assigned 4 tutorials. Please check your own timetable for the exact time and venue:
Monday Tutorials: 2/2, 23/2, 9/3, 13/4 (CT02, CT04)
CT02 830-950 KEK601
CT04 1300-1420 KEK802
Tuesday Tutorials: 3/2, 24/2, 10/3, 14/4 (CT03, CT05, CT06)
CT03 1130-1250 KEK602
CT06 1300-1420 KEK602
CT05 830-950 KEK 802
Thursday Tutorials: 5/2, 26/2, 12/3, 16/4 (CT01, CT07, CT08)
CT08 1430-1550 KEK602
CT01 1430-1550 KEK802
CT07 830-950 KEK803
Tutor email: Yu Ching Yen click Chan Wen Shan click
Lecturer email: tkyming@hkuspace.hku.hk
Grading Guide for Essay Writing: click Harvard guide: click
Rubric for Oral Presentation: click Sample: click
Revision Guide: Click
Sample Exam Paper: click
Sample Short Essay and Comments: Click
APA Style Guide: Click
Aims and Objectives:
This course will provide students with a general understanding of philosophy as an academic discipline and as a method of intellectual enquiry. It will also introduce students to a variety of philosophical problems that arise from reflection on the nature of human existence. These problems are drawn from the many sub-disciplines of philosophy such as metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, religion, and mind, etc. Sample problems include: the mind/body problem, the problem of evil, the problem of knowledge, the problem of free will, and the problem of personal identity, etc. Students will be guided to examine different philosophical approaches to these problems, and to develop their ability to think and make reasoned judgments about such problems independently and critically.
Recommended Text: Ming, Thomas. 2006. Twenty Problems in Philosophy. McGraw-Hill. Book Link (The book is out of print but is available in the HKU library)
There are many introductory texts on Western philosophy, apart from my Twenty Problems. Two very popular, simple and well-written books are Simon Blackburn's Think and Thomas Nagel's What Does it All Mean? These two books, however, do not cover every topic in this course (Nagel's book has Chinese translation). If you want a fun book on the history of Western philosophy, you should read the bestselling novel Sophie's World. Undergraduate students in good universities are usually required to read many journal articles, which are the products of philosophical research. You can have access to most philosophical journals via the library link on SOUL.
Please note that I will not print out the PowerPoint or notes for you. All announcements concerning the course will be posted on this website instead of SOUL.
Contact and consultation: If you have questions or want to make an appointment with me please email me directly at tkyming@hkuspace.hku.hk Thomas Ming
Please note that the College has a strict policy on plagiarism. If you are not sure what plagiarism is, consult the College webpage or ask your lecturer/tutor.
PowerPoint and Other Resources
1.What is Philosophy and Who is Socrates?
PowerPoint: Socrates
Core reading:
1. Euthyphro
A Complete Course on Critical Reasoning and Logic from Oxford
2.Dream and the Matrix
PowerPoint: Dream and Matrix
Core reading:
2. The Butterfly Dream of Zhuang Zhou
3.Personal Identity
PowerPoint: Personal Identity
Core reading:
1. Thomas Reid on Personal Identity
4.How can We Know God?
PowerPoint: God
Core reading:
5.Free Will and Moral Responsibility
PowerPoint: Free Will
Core reading:
6. Truth
PowerPoint: Click
Core reading:
1. Nietzsche on Truth and Lies
Supplementary materials:
Many useful interviews with philosophers: Interviews Closer to Truth
Films with philosophical themes
https://mubi.com/lists/essential-movies-for-a-student-of-philosophy
Interviews with philosophers
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/index/interviews/
You can download podcast on the history of western philosophy by Peter Adamson at Philosophy Without Gaps (You can see how he explains a philosopher's views in a succinct way.)
Film on Pascal’s wager
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F_LUFIeUk0
Film on simple logic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp9SjZkc6bw
Yale philosophy course on death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2J7wSuFRl8&list=PLE0D425F951001F57
Talks on contemporary philosophy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n-6WkJ3yqM&list=PL860F383A97061BAD
Websites for the sample aptitude test in HKSARs: HKSAR
Videos related to the six topics
On Euthyphro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrZn2UKxIow
On the Matrix
On Locke’s personal identity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7xlrfSnAm0
On Bernard Williams’s personal identity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_CA12UAyI4&list=PLRAI_WnbL7Z2mJgtmOvJmy00Ru9ikqvtt&index=4
On Theology and Falsification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibf3AsDtogc&spfreload=10
On free will and determinism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH56YHeWEUA
MIT video on free will
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSfXdNIolQA&list=PLn4rlQGra4afwlabl1sLAFzYGXA8_PSAP
Listen to a BBC programme on truth
Other SPACE courses:
logic course website: Click
aesthetics course website: click
Science course website: click
CARDS(ENG) website: click
CARDS(ELL) website: click
Further Links:
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse