Moral Psychology
MIT's Moral Psychology examines philosophical theories of action and motivation alongside empirical findings from social psychology, sociology, and neuroscience. Topics covered include belief, desire, and moral motivation, sympathy and empathy, intentions and other committing mental states, strength and weakness of will, free will, addiction and compulsion, guilt, shame, and regret, evil, self-knowledge and self-deception, and virtues and character traits. Designated a Communication-Intensive course in the Major (CI-M), it emphasizes rigorous philosophical writing alongside the conceptual material. Materials on MIT OpenCourseWare include the syllabus, readings drawn from philosophy and psychology, and assignment prompts. No video lectures are included, but the full reading list and writing assignments give a clear path through the material. Free to access, with no certificate offered through OpenCourseWare.