I started this class as a pre-req for my major, with no interest in philosophy, and now it is going to be my major. Professor Smeenk is a great professor. The lectures are fairly well organised (they dropped off a bit at the end of the year), the tests are a bit difficult but fair, and the reading is for the most part optional. End grades in the class are very fair, reflecting the amount of work that you put into the class. Take this class if you think you might be interested in philosophy.

This class seemed pretty easy in principle, but it turned out to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated. Smeenk is a pretty decent lecturer, I didn't have much of a problem staying awake and listening. The midterm was decent, although I got a bit confused. Know each philosopher's views EXACTLY. The final was a lot easier than the midterm...the paper topics were okay...my only problem with this class was that I had a pretty bad T.A. whom didn't do much other than try to make us figure it all out ourselves. Oh yea, there is a ton of reading for this class, so be prepared to be doing it all in order to get an A. Get Thi as a T.A. if he is doing it, in his review session he was funny and 10x more clear than my T.A. All in all, challenging philosophy class that CAN be done if you keep up with the material.

Professor Smeenk is a pretty nice guy. You can definitely tell that he is concern for the students learning. His tests are straight forward and as long as you know the arguments of each scientist then you should be fine. I never been to OH but people tell me that he is very helpful, during class he also encourages you to go to OH. His lectures are organized but very boring.

Philosophy 8 on the other hand, this class sucks. I think this is the worst class I ever taken in my life. Don\355t let the name fool you \354Philosophy of Science\356, at first I thought it was going to be interesting but this class is hella boring. You have to be very interested in this subject in order to do well. If you don\355t like this stuff or not motivated to learn, you\355re screwed. Damn I hated that class so much. I did work my ass off by doing the readings and trying to go online and find other resources but I just do not get it. At the end, I got a C-, I am really disappointed because I worked VERY hard.

Bottom line: If you\355re a philosophy major, good luck with the class, if you are looking for an easy GE, you better find another class or else you better be prepared for a screwing.