As a former college professor and academic writer/scholar myself the Oxford series on art, philosophy, literature, etc thrills my nerd body to its nerdiest innards. So bravo! As some other posters have noted, the sound quality *is* an issue, and as many of these lectures were recorded in 2011-2012 etc the recording needs updating, and one is definitely “among ‘em” in the wilderness of the students, hearing the energetic grinding of well-gnawed biros as they are dragged across the crisp white notebook pages splayed open, the sniffling of a nose hear or there or a cough or dropped book, etc. All of these are sounds that college profs endure daily as lectures filled with 150 students are not totally silent places. They are messy and alive and they make noises. Such is life. Bravo on the series — please take some care to update and repair the sound issues because offering such quality lectures from “Oxbridge” for free to the public is a gift indeed. One issue with the old “wager” lecture, the idea of god presented obviously is entirely limited to a (narrow) interpretation of the Christian god. Pressured by any reasonable forces such as the possibility of the Hindu pantheon being the gods in place or the Buddhist system, the wager becomes meaningless and dangerously sentimental, not in any way a “rational” course.

It sounds like this was recorded by a student sitting in the lecture hall on an iPhone!! At the best of times, it’s difficult to understand what the professor is saying. At the worst of times, it’s totally unintelligible. The content is pretty good and the professor fairly engaging.

Whether you have any knowledge in philosophy or not, I strongly recommend it to you, especially for those who intend to take such lessons in college. This course covers astonishingly well-structured teachings in every lecture, with rich material and concepts in handout. Oxford is one of the top Universities in the field of philosophy and religious study. You would definitely go through some mind chanllenge if you adhere to what the lecturer says.