Open Educational Resources

Open educational resources are course materials that anyone can freely retain, revise, remix, reuse and redistribute.

The following lists include examples of OERs for subjects taught at the University. They are by no means comprehensive.

You can also search the suggested platforms listed throughout this guide or contact the Library's Learning Support team for help.

Textbooks

Animals & ethics 101: thinking critically about animal rights
Textbook provides an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent of our moral obligations to animals. Which, if any, uses of animals are morally wrong, which are morally permissible and why? CC BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike) license.
A concise introduction to logic
Textbook providing an introduction to formal logic for students taking a course in logic or critical thinking. It takes the unique approach of teaching logic through intellectual history using examples from important and celebrated arguments in philosophy to illustrate logical principles. CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
A guide to good reasoning: cultivating intellectual virtues, 2nd edition
Textbook that shows how students can become good at everyday reasoning with both wit and philosophical care. It starts with attitude and develops a system for clarifying and evaluating arguments. CC BY-NC (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial) license.
Inferring and explaining
Textbook in practical epistemology that examines the notion of evidence and assumes that good evidence is the essence of rational thinking. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license.
Introduction to philosophy series
Series of four Introduction to philosophy textbooks: ethics; logic; philosophy of mind; and philosophy of religion. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license.
Modern philosophy
Textbook in modern philosophy that combines readings from primary sources with two pedagogical tools. Paragraphs in italics introduce figures and texts, and numbered study questions ask students to reconstruct an argument or position from the text, or draw connections among the readings. CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
Open Book Publishers: Philosophy Textbooks
Series of philosophy textbooks published by Open Book Publishers. Includes: Plato's republic; Foundations of moral relativism; Ethics for A-levels; and Metaethics from a first person standpoint. Various Creative Commons licenses.

Supplementary materials

Critical Thinking Web
Collection of over 100 free tutorials on different aspects of thinking skills from the University of Hong Kong. CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
Introduction to Chinese Philosophy
Collection of PowerPoint presentations and Chines texts with English translations created by the University of Edinburgh for use in their Introduction to Chinese Philosophy short course. CC BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike) license.
Introduction to Philosophy
Video series created by the University of Edinburgh for their Introduction to Philosophy open online course. CC BY-NC (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial) license.
Lander University Philosophy
Website with readings, books, and other resources to support philosophy courses of study. Courses include: Introduction to philosophy, Introduction to logic, Scientific reasoning, Ethics, and Eastern philosophy. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license.
Oxford University Podcasts: Faculty of Philosophy
Podcast series from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Only episodes with a (CC) symbol next to their title are available under a CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
Philosophy Pages
Website related to Western philosophy. It includes a dictionary of terms and names, survey of the history of philosophy, timeline, discussion of major philosophers, and study guide. CC BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike) license.
TeachPhilosophy101
Website that provides strategies and resources for instructors who teach philosophy courses, especially at the introductory level. CC BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike) license.

Courses

Saylor Academy: Philosophy
Online self-directed courses in philosophy that help students make sense of controversial issues involving ethics, politics, the environment, and society. Asides from final exams content created by Saylor Academy is CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) licensed. Various licenses for third party material.
OpenLearn: Philosophy
Philosophy courses ranging from introductory to advanced level from the Open University. CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
Open Yale Courses: Philosophy
Courses from the Yale University Department of Philosophy: Philosophy and the science of human nature, and Death. CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
MIT Open Coureware: Philosophy
Courses in philosophy as taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Content varies but can include lecture notes, videos, assignments with solutions, student project examples etc. CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license but courses may refer to copyright material.