this class was a solid 6.75/10, not bad at all but was by no means easy. you're gonna have to relisten to lectures and take notes during lecture in order to understand these tricky terms and concepts, but it is doable. Prof McHose was very clear (sometimes too clear lmao) and this helped demystify the idea that philosophy is super vague and existential and impossible to understand.

The essays are heavily factored into your grade, and while they have an easy-to-follow structure, they were definitely the toughest part of the course. for a decent essay, expect to take about a week to brainstorm and write it.

Over other philosophy courses, I think this is one of the best. But if you have easier GE options, consider taking those to spare you the mental taxation. If you have no other choice, honestly this class was fine in the end and you'll be fine, too.

The professor himself is SUPER funny and chill and he taught the subject VERY well!! His quizzes were kinda difficult though. I did okay on the first two (mid As), but I tanked the last one (mid C). He averages them up and then curves instead of dropping the lowest. I ended up with a low A average for my quizzes, which I felt was a VERY fair grade considering I straight up got a C on one of them.
His materials have unique and engaging examples, and his method of lecturing is very relaxed (colloquial words, jokes, funny examples, back-and-forth student participation, etc.), but also very structured at the same time (pre-made handouts you can follow along with, polls, tangents that make sense/are relevant, etc.).
The bulk of your grade are your two papers. There were no example papers to base your paper off of, but he does go over an overall structure-ish. We did not have to write a lot of original stuff (the first paper he gave us the introduction paragraph entirely), but the structure is VERY specific, so if you can follow that structure to a T, you'll do great. You're kind of thrown into it a little bit too though. However, he has mandatory 1-1 sessions with the TA to go over the papers, and if you listen to all of the criticisms, you should get an A on the second paper.
Overall, a super fun class! I would recommend, but you should probably put in some work in really getting the concepts rather than memorizing stuff or the papers and quizzes will mess you up.

This was my favorite class that I took this quarter. I thought the material was super interesting and the professor was good at keeping us engaged by allowing us to participate in zoom polls every lecture. The professor asks for questions periodically during lecture and repeats what we’ve gone over a lot, so that was also really helpful. I also thought he was pretty funny at times. We took 3 quizzes for the quarter, which I thought were kinda tricky but as long as you really pay attention in lecture and go over the handouts you should get an at least decent grade. Plus, he curves them to your favor at the end of the quarter. On a straight scale I would’ve gotten around a B+ average, but it was bumped up to an A. You can also get a bump in your grade if you participate, this can be done in lecture, discussion, office hours, or even just by shooting an email to the professor with your thoughts about the material. There were 2 papers, not very long and like I said for the quizzes, paying attention in lecture and following the handouts should get you through it pretty well. Both the professor and TAs held extra office hours leading up to due dates for the paper, so there’s always help if you need it. Discussion is optional but I definitely recommend going so that you get a better understanding of what’s going on in lecture. I had Amber and I liked her a lot, she was really nice and helpful. If there was ever something you were having trouble understanding, she would take the time to break it down for you until you got it. Overall, I would definitely recommend this class.

Really interesting class; I took it as a major prereq but it also fulfills the philosophical analysis GE. Definitely recommend choosing a different ge though if you’re looking for an easy A. The class has a really light workload, just attend lecture to understand the notes and handouts prof posts on CCLE. There’s about 3 readings assigned throughout the quarter related to the material discussed in lecture which range from 10-20 pages but if you skim them and follow lecture you should be able to understand what’s going on. Grading is based on three quizzes and two papers. Quizzes tested your ability to apply content and concepts from lecture and readings; pretty mind numbing imo. Papers were on whether abortion or medical exploitation is morally permissible or not. Prompts are given about a week in advance but are pretty dense so definitely get a head start on your paper. The TAs and prof have lots of OH so definitely make use of them. Prof McHose definitely knows what he’s teaching and explains things thoroughly, with examples, and repeats often to reinforce the material. Really smart guy and engaging lecture all-around.

Grading Breakdown:
10% - Quiz #1 (metaethics material)
10% - Quiz #2 (medical exploitation material)
15% - Quiz #3 (abortion material)
30% - First Paper
35% - Final Paper

TLDR: interesting course, not easy A, no busy work

This was the best class I have ever taken, period. Low key changed my life. I always looked forward to attending Professor McHose's lectures.

McHose is such an engaging professor! His notes and lectures are a bit all over the place but if you attend lecture you will understand what is going on. He repeats himself fairly often in order to provide you with different examples and explanation of the various points he is trying to convey. It may seem redundant but is incredibly helpful. Discussions are optional and very unnecessary in this class. Attending lecture helps you to actually understand the material, but you could probably pass the class just by reviewing the handouts and doing the minimal amount of reading. McHose is really funny and actually makes his lectures enjoyable! I definitely recommend this class!