PHILOS 7
Introduction to Philosophy of Mind
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Introductory study of philosophical issues about nature of the mind and its relation to the body, including materialism, functionalism, behaviorism, determinism and free will, nature of psychological knowledge. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - This was my first philosophy class and honestly I feel like I lucked out. Armstrong is a fantastic professor: really engaging and helpful (definitely go to office hours if you're still confused!). I also had a great TA, so the discussion sections were perfect for clearing up any lingering questions. The grade consisted of: 1. Weekly quizzes (about two questions long. One question about topics covered in the previous week and one question about topics covered in the readings) [20% of grade] 2. One short paper (like a page long; served as a sort of tester paper so you get used to the formatting of writing a philosophy paper) [5% of grade] 3. Two longer papers (4-5 pages; one due around midterms and one due around finals) [30% of grade each] 4. Discussion Attendance/Participation [15% of grade] I rated the workload as "neutral" because there is quite a bit of reading, but the grade is essentially the papers. I'd definitely recommend attending lectures, Armstrong really clarified a lot of the readings. Philosophy readings can be pretty confusing to follow (and contain a lot of ideas) Armstrong definitely narrowed down the scope of the papers and talked about the important points. I wouldn't consider the class difficult, because it's really just a matter of giving some genuine thought to the topics and then articulating them via the papers/quizzes/discussions. It's all about how you've taken in the information and formulated your own thoughts/opinions about the material. Armstrong and my TA really stressed that they enjoy seeing students engage with the material and contribute their own ideas.
Spring 2017 - This was my first philosophy class and honestly I feel like I lucked out. Armstrong is a fantastic professor: really engaging and helpful (definitely go to office hours if you're still confused!). I also had a great TA, so the discussion sections were perfect for clearing up any lingering questions. The grade consisted of: 1. Weekly quizzes (about two questions long. One question about topics covered in the previous week and one question about topics covered in the readings) [20% of grade] 2. One short paper (like a page long; served as a sort of tester paper so you get used to the formatting of writing a philosophy paper) [5% of grade] 3. Two longer papers (4-5 pages; one due around midterms and one due around finals) [30% of grade each] 4. Discussion Attendance/Participation [15% of grade] I rated the workload as "neutral" because there is quite a bit of reading, but the grade is essentially the papers. I'd definitely recommend attending lectures, Armstrong really clarified a lot of the readings. Philosophy readings can be pretty confusing to follow (and contain a lot of ideas) Armstrong definitely narrowed down the scope of the papers and talked about the important points. I wouldn't consider the class difficult, because it's really just a matter of giving some genuine thought to the topics and then articulating them via the papers/quizzes/discussions. It's all about how you've taken in the information and formulated your own thoughts/opinions about the material. Armstrong and my TA really stressed that they enjoy seeing students engage with the material and contribute their own ideas.
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The evaluation for Phil 7 below is true. This should have been a fun introductory class and instead, he ruined more than 1/2 of the class' GPAs. I worked so hard for this class, attended lectures, never missed a discussion section, saw the TA, etc., and I still didn't get an A. I'm now going to have to work my butt off like crazy to get my GPA back to where it was before this class (let me just say how STUPID it looks when all I have is A, A- and then this grade!) Cumming saw that we were all struggling immensely and that people practically failed the midterm. Although the final was "sort of" ok, the guy would NOT budge and would not allow for a curve. In reality, I probably have one of the higher grades in class but because he wouldn't allow the TAs to lower the grade scale, it was impossible to get an A. Bottom line, if you need this class see if you can find another teacher. It's a great subject but by the end of the course, I can't tell you how many people were turned off from philosophy and hated anything having to do with it.
The evaluation for Phil 7 below is true. This should have been a fun introductory class and instead, he ruined more than 1/2 of the class' GPAs. I worked so hard for this class, attended lectures, never missed a discussion section, saw the TA, etc., and I still didn't get an A. I'm now going to have to work my butt off like crazy to get my GPA back to where it was before this class (let me just say how STUPID it looks when all I have is A, A- and then this grade!) Cumming saw that we were all struggling immensely and that people practically failed the midterm. Although the final was "sort of" ok, the guy would NOT budge and would not allow for a curve. In reality, I probably have one of the higher grades in class but because he wouldn't allow the TAs to lower the grade scale, it was impossible to get an A. Bottom line, if you need this class see if you can find another teacher. It's a great subject but by the end of the course, I can't tell you how many people were turned off from philosophy and hated anything having to do with it.
Most Helpful Review
Probably the most boring class I've taken so far in my 3 years at UCLA. He's very unorganized. He just stands there in front of class with his coffee and turns lecture into a giant discussion. So any idiot who wants to give their opinion can just talk for half the class. I stopped going to class week 4 and I think I went 2 more times after that. Even though I didn't go, I still got a B+. TA's grade somewhat hard on the papers (progressively get harder). The only great thing about the class was the review session given by the TA's for the final. They gave us every answer.
Probably the most boring class I've taken so far in my 3 years at UCLA. He's very unorganized. He just stands there in front of class with his coffee and turns lecture into a giant discussion. So any idiot who wants to give their opinion can just talk for half the class. I stopped going to class week 4 and I think I went 2 more times after that. Even though I didn't go, I still got a B+. TA's grade somewhat hard on the papers (progressively get harder). The only great thing about the class was the review session given by the TA's for the final. They gave us every answer.
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