Lectures & discussion attendance mandatory. Lecture slides are available online after lectures. Prof is a bit difficult to follow & he talks in circles but he's entertaining to watch. We read The Republic by Plato and a few different works by Aristotle. REALLY make an effort to understand The Republic because as EASY as it seems (it's dialectical) the TA's put the problem sets under great scrutiny. Most of your learning will be done in discussion so come prepared to participate and ask questions. We spent 6~ weeks on Plato and 4~ weeks on Aristotle, so the Aristotle section is really hard to grasp. If you're going to pay attention to any lecture & be an active participant in discussion you MUST do it for Aristotle. The problem set will be under the same level of scrutiny and is significantly harder than the first one. Truly ask your TA's how to deconstruct the questions in the problem sets. Specifically, what the protocol is for when the question asks about arguments versus theories. They will let you know when you have to outline the premises of Plato/Aristotle's arguments versus write your own. They won't read drafts or outlines so have a clear understanding of what is expected.

Grading Breakdown:
• Problem-Set 1 = 32% (Due: 11/11)
• Problem-Set 2 = 33% (Due: 12/12)
• Attending all 18 of Crager’s lectures = 21% of final grade
• Attending all meetings of your discussion section = 10% of final grade
• Discussion section participation = 4% of final grade
"For purposes of this course, by a ‘Problem-set’ we mean a (take home) multi-question long
form writing assignment that students complete by submitting (appx.) 5-8 pages of carefully
thought out philosophical prose"

Crager is a great professor- engaging, knowledgeable, and funny. This was my first philosophy class and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would definitely do the readings before class for a fuller understanding of the material, which helps when writing the two assigned papers. Overall, a very easy class to recommend.