(Updated December 19, 2020)
BASIC INFORMATION
Title: Introduction to Philosophy
Lead author/editor: Christina Hendricks, (UBC) / @clhendricksbc
Rebus project manager: Apurva Ashok / @apurva
License: CC BY
Target audience: Undergraduate/general survey course for first year college or university
Subject: Philosophy
Target Release Date:
Philosophy of Mind: published September 2019
Ethics: published December 2019
Logic: published November 2020
Philosophy of Religion: published December 2020
Aesthetics: published December 2021
Epistemology: published August 2021
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This open textbook series is targeted at first year (college or university) students taking introductory survey courses in philosophy, and focuses on foundational ideas in philosophical inquiry in order to give them the basic framework needed to pursue higher-level courses. The books cover core concepts in Western philosophy, as well as other traditions.
The audience for the books is students who have not taken any philosophy courses before, and are entirely new to the discipline. Some students in introductory-level philosophy courses may of course have done previous work in philosophy, but the books do not assume any prior knowledge and are written in an accessible way for those unfamiliar with philosophical terms and traditions.
The books will be available for course adoptions in Philosophy survey courses around the world, with an expectation that future iterations or companion works can build on this starting point.
Please see the discussion threads for each book if you’d like to comment on or participate in one book in particular.
HELP NEEDED
Chapter authors
We are seeking chapter authors for the following books. Please see the public table of contents for chapters still needed and links to the chapter descriptions.
- Social and Political Philosophy (we have a new editor for this book, and the chapter outline may change)
- Philosophy of Science
We are looking for people with a PhD in philosophy, ideally with teaching experience at the first-year level. PhD students in philosophy may also be considered as authors, or can contribute in other ways to the book. We welcome and encourage contributions from members of underrepresented groups within the community of academic philosophy.
Peer reviewers
We are seeking peer reviewers for the Metaphysics book. We seek two peer reviewers with at least a Master’s in Philosophy and ideally experience teaching and the first-year level in philosophy. We also welcome undergraduate students as reviewers as well, as having feedback from the perspective of students who might use the books is invaluable.
Other contributions
We also need collaborators to help with:
- Copy editing
- Peer review (we will need peer reviewers for Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science, and Social and Political Philosophy, when those are all completed)
- Proofreading
- Accessibility checks
- Formatting in Pressbooks
- Marketing
- Promoting course adoptions
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
If you’re excited by this project, but still not sure where you’d like to get involved, just sign up to the forum, and introduce yourself in the volunteer sign-up thread. You can also follow the main project thread to receive project updates. Give us an idea of your background, particular area of expertise, and interests. We’ll follow up and make sure we find ways to have you participate!
RECOGNITION FOR CONTRIBUTORS
This project couldn’t happen without the participation of many people giving their time and effort so that no one person has to do a great deal. All contributing authors will be credited prominently in their chapter, the book, the metadata and promotional materials. All editors, reviewers and other contributors will also be credited.
OUTLINE
The series includes the following 9 books, and you can view the full list of chapters in each book by going to this book’s project page on Rebus Projects.
You can see which chapters still need authors in our Table of Contents.
If you’re interested in a particular book, you can view the relevant thread from the main project page.
RELEVANT RESOURCES
Here’s a list of useful documents:
TWEET THIS PROJECT! (less than 140 chars, copy-paste into Twitter)
Help us make this Open Textbook: “Intro to Philosophy”, find out how to contribute here: Project Summary - Introduction to Philosophy - Rebus Community
CURRENT PROJECT TEAM
@clhendricksbc (lead author), @apurva (rebus proj manager), @dmgile, @beau.branson, @benjamin.martin, @heathersalazarom, @geoslack @brian561 @palmaadriano and many more … including you?