Hey Deadlocks!! Good to know someone else other than me is looking for a philo course somewhere xD. HELP used to have an introduction to philosophy class last few years (and a very good lecturer), but the donkey head of dept. for ADP caused stupid problems and made her leave. I'm currently looking for philosophy classes as well, maybe, if you'd like to, we can update one another if we find something? I'll just share with you what I found so far, sorry if they're a bit messy.

The UoL external program is one way you can go about studying philosophy it is accredited and it is pretty good (London philosophy programs are probably some of the best and most difficult ones). Apparently they're accepting applications for the external in September http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/how_t.../malaysia.shtml and I'm planning to take the introduction course first (depending on how I do, I'll decide whether or not to go on with the diploma and degree). Exams will be on next year May.

The philosophy pathways program is also pretty good, from what I've seen, though it can be a little pricey if you couple it both with the UoL diploma/degree program. From what I gather, they'll give you homework and writings to do, and you'll send your answer to them. The tutors will then check and give you a 800 word comment on how to fix and develop your essays further. Correspondence will be through email only, if I'm not mistaken. There're also private tutors that will tutor you through skype. I don't remember where I've seen it, but I'll update the post if I can find it again. There're no prices, but I'm guessing it'll be a lot more expensive than the philosophy pathways programs, because of the guy's supposed PhD and tutoring experiences in Oxford.

If you want to study in a university, the closest you can get a degree in philosophy will be at Singapore at NUS. I'm not sure of the entry requirements, though, but based on their rankings, I'm guessing it'd be hell getting into the program. I know AIMST in Kedah has introductory philosophy classes as well, but from what my friend recounted to me, it's not worth going there to take.

I was thinking also, if you'd like to, we can put together a reading/study group for philosophy. I am looking for more people atm, so let me know what you think xD And are there any particular fields of philosophy you're most interested in?

One last edit: Deadlocks, if you want to read more about philosophy this is a good place to begin. This is an encyclopedia of Philosophy - http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html online. If you want an easier to read book, I suggest you go to the bookstores and buy The Philosophy Book - it's an encyclopedia by DK, very accessible, very easy to read. Gives you a summary of almost all the prominent philosophers from the past until now. It's 90 bucks, I saw it in Borders and Kinokuniya. For a more classic introductory text, try Bertrand Russell's Problems of Philosophy - http://www.ditext.com/russell/russell.html (and if you want to get the ebook http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5827 ) Compared to other writings by other philosophers, it's quite easy to read, and I know some universities use this as a basic required reading for their philosophy courses.

Also, I'd like to respond to some of the other posts made. First xenotzu, on the practicality of Philosophy, I must say i completely disagree with your view. Philosophy encourages analytical and critical thinking abilities, which are of a lot of value to employers. My uncle, who is a GM with a timber company in Sarawak has banker friends that prefer people with a philosophy degree, because of their ability to think. His friend himself has a degree in philosophy, and outshines the people with financial/banking background. And contrary to what you think, some bosses actually have some knowledge of philosophy - and knowing some popular names in philosophy does help e.g. Karl Marx, Adam Smith. I back my arguments also with the fact that philosophy graduates tend to have higher GRE scores than grads from other fields (in both written and quantitative aspects). Philosophy students can grasp banking fast. But banking graduates might not be able to grasp thinking fast. And this - is a major advantage.

Dreamer 101, thinking about thinking is not philosophy, it's metacognition (I can tell you all about metacognition because I learn it in psychology =)) And while I agree with you that thinking is mainly a personal process, it is difficult to learn about philosophy on your own. I'd like to see you self-learn Heidegger or Kant by yourself, without help from others. Well if you can, I'll concede that your point makes sense. Also, I agree that MIT is world class, no doubt. But what makes their graduates world class is not their lectures. It's their tutors and their discussions. Students are assigned private tutors that help them develop their thinking skills outside the lecture. That is what classroom/university interaction entails, and what makes students step up and become better thinkers. I watched the entire series from Yale about the philosophy of death. Yeah, it's good. I learnt a lot. But honestly, it's not enough. I won't be able to write essays on the subject just by watching the lecture.

And limfreelance, well, it's good to know that you acknowledge the development in thinking processes. I'm a bit concerned though, cause if its true that we're developing so fast, you seem to be thinking that we should just stop learning altogether, since "what u study might be different tomorrow" instead of trying to step up to learn what's new. A bit dangerous, no?

This post has been edited by mktu12629: Aug 24 2011, 12:15 AM

Lol np xD for one I am absolutely certain that education is never a lonesome journey. There are way more people who want to learn more than we might expect (even in Malaysia, just... Less common?)