this was the first actual philosophy class I've ever taken and was pretty uninterested in the subject, but Adam Crager made me like it. he is very passionate about the subject and philosophy in general so he made lecture extremely doable and interesting and gave concrete, relatable examples. the material was made so easy to understand thanks to his outstanding communication of the material and his love of teaching.

our breakdown of the class was:
-2 problem sets (was supposed to be 3 but we ran out of time so the second and third were combined to be 65% of our overall grade).

your grade is basically in your TA's hands, so be aware of that. I had sahiba as my TA and would 100% recommend staying clear of her, as she gives absolutely no helpful information or guidance in writing the problem sets and contradicted the rubrics and wanted us to write what she wanted, not professor crager.

overall, it's a fun and easy class that welcomes and eases you into philosophy here at UCLA.

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.

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"

Honestly, I really enjoyed the class. Even though it was during the strike, Crager was extremely helpful with being up-to-date with all the information and giving all materials necessary to succeed. My teacher assistant was extremely helpful with all the resources. Crager encouraged working together with other students for writing assignments. All assignments were pretty much answered in class, and everything was very straight-forward. It was just such a great class to be in, and i would take it all over again if i could.

UCLA is lucky to have Adam Crager. He's one of the best lecturers and overall teachers I've encountered during my time at UCLA. He is a rare breed where he's both an academic who's truly passionate (obsessed?) with the material but can also teach that material effectively. The class was interesting. Grading consisted of two short "problem sets" -- essentially short papers made up of several mini prompts. The work required a lot of deep contemplative thinking, but you never had to read or write a ton. Would recommend this class (and Professor Crager) to anyone remotely interested in Philosophy.

So I'm going to be honest. i took this class during my first quarter at UCLA (I'm a first year transfer), during COVID-19, and i stopped showing up to lectures and discussions after week 3. We only had two graded assignments, both were essays, but one was worth 65% of our grade. This scared me because i fell really behind and stopped doing all the readings but I'm honestly great at working under pressure so i managed to leave the class with an A-. I can't really speak much of the professor but my TA was extremely helpful and the version of Plato's Republic that we read was easy to understand. From my experience, it's honestly an easy A just keep up with the readings and watch lectures and videos (I still managed without watching any tho, but i don't recommend it).

There was supposed to be 3 problem sets (similar to an essay), but due to poor planning, the last two problem sets were combined to be worth 65% of our grade. The class was curved (87% for an A- and 91% for an A) and he offered a chance for you to re-write the first problem set if you got below an A-. Your grade is entirely dependent upon your TA. If your TA grades harshly, sucks for you. His pre-filmed lecture videos and slides are very concise but he takes a VERY long time to answer students' questions during live lectures.

Professor Crager always gave thorough lectures with slides, he would also take questions but would take a long time to answer them. In doing that, people never had enough time to get their questions in. He was great at lecturing, but upon receiving our grades from the first assignment many students were surprised. The TA's had a much different criteria than the professor, therefore throwing off all of the students. Then, if that was not unfortunate enough, he combined the last two assignments to equal 65% of our grade which produced a lot of anxiety. I understand that this was likely because he was not used to teaching virtually therefore was not prepared. He was a great lecturer but rushed the assignments at the end which was stressful (I had TA Sahiba, she grades harsh, and does not give helpful feedback). No tests, just problem sets and participation which is earned in sections.

Selling both “Plato - The Republic” and “Basic Works of Aristotle” (required textbooks) for super cheap! Willing to negotiate the price because I’m moving away after I graduate in June and need to get rid of these books.

(Will delete this post when books are sold so it’s still available)
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Prof. Crager's class is very straightforward, and he is an incredibly intelligent guy. It's amazing to just ask him questions sometimes and hear what he says because his understanding of philosophy seems so deep and vivid. I came into this class as a non-philosophy major, so I was pretty nervous since philosophy isn't an easy subject. But his expectations are very clear, and he was very good at explaining difficult concepts, so his class wasn't very hard. I also lucked out w/ an amazing TA- if you're able to get Nefeli know that you are very lucky! Your T.A. is actually entirely responsible for your grade because your entire grade is composed of attendance/participation in section and problem sets (similar to an essay) that the TA grades.
You don't have to show up to class but you should try to make it to the majority of them because Crager goes way more in-depth than what's written in the lecture slides. Overall, if you go to every section and make an effort to communicate w/ your T.A. about the problem sets you should be able to get a good grade in this class.