No cap, on my momma, THIS CLASS AIN'T IT!!!!

This class is a DISASTER!!! Do NOT TAKE IT. I thought it would be an easy GE but the professor is so not reasonable!!! Considering this is a BEGINNERS Philosophy course GE, honestly ridiculous. You don't even need the coursereader that he makes you buy. The papers were unfairly graded. Everyone keeps getting Bs. The TAs are lost because the professor didn't prepare them. The final study guide was handed to us only FOUR days before the exam!!! There will be 10 "mini-essay" questions for three hours long and he expects the "mini" essays to be as long as our normal papers !!!!!!! And the TAs were all warning us saying "he made this a very difficult exam." And with all confidence it was said in lecture that he will not curve. Do not take this class.

Nah. Don't do it chief.

There are a lot of super negative reviews on Rescorla right now but I personally didn't feel that negatively of him. I went to most lectures and every discussion and only went to my TA's office hours once for a paper and I thought the class was relatively easy. There are three papers and a final. While it's true that the grading for the paper is super vague and was never clarified, I thought the final was super easy. He did hand out a study guide with a list of concepts that we covered and some practice questions of what could be on the exam (some of these questions actually did end up on the exam) and I filled that out a day or two before the final. At first I thought his lectures were pretty interesting but as the quarter dragged on, so did his class. But, he highlights all the important information you need to know in his slides so as long as you write that down and go to discussion, you should have everything you need to do well in the class. It was inconvenient that he never uploaded anything on CCLE but the papers were graded by the TAs so if you're worried about not doing well on the paper, I recommend going to your TA's office hour.

I never talked to him but he did seem a bit stuck-up (he definitely went to Harvard and I'm pretty sure it was for his PhD in philosophy so) but he gives you all the information you need to know in his lectures. Philosophy papers are completely different from any other kind of paper so it was really hard getting an A on the papers but again, just talk to your TA. Your success in the class really depends on your TA, as they grade your papers, your final and your participation. I was angry about the course reader; it was $50 and I looked at it twice and didn't ever need to again. But I truly don't think the class or the professor was as bad as people say. I'm pretty lazy and only try when it's important and I'm confident in getting an A in the class (grades have not been released yet). I definitely don't have a special knack for philosophy or anything (this was my first philosophy class) and I thought this class was pretty enjoyable and interesting.

I had a blast this quarter in Phil 7 with Professor Rescorla! Never taken a philosophy class in my life until then, and I came into class every time looking forward to his lectures (which I will say, he's one of the best lecturers I've had at UCLA). Topics and questions for the final came directly from the study guide, and you probably didn't need to study much if you paid attention in class.
However, I do agree with the reviews below in that there's definitely room for improvement for this course (the 2 areas being integration (or omission) of the course reader as well as a concrete rubric made publicly available to students for each essay assignment).
So I'm left feeling ambivalent. The course needs some work, but I thought Professor Rescorla was amazing!

hated this class. lecture was so boring. never did the readings but had to spend $50 on a course reader (even though all materials were find-able online). TA was weird and only semi helpful. Easy enough, but boring. Rescora was confusing and patronizing. Always talked about Trump. Don't recommend

I've never taken a philosophy course so I really didn't know what to expect. First of all, the TAs were just as lost as the students were. The professor never put anything on CCLE and would often contradict the readings he assigned (which were completely pointless). He also decided to make the final unnecessarily long (3 hours, 10 essays). The grading was arbitrary and it was hard to know where you stood in the class. There was no rubric or set expectations. I would never take this class again.

Hands down the worst professor I've ever had at UCLA. First day of class, he came off as arrogant, sarcastic, and as someone who did not care for his students' learning. The TA's were kept in the dark for the majority of the course. They were clueless as to what to do during the review sessions for the final. Nothing is posted on ccle, as to "encourage" students to come to lecture. There were 3 essays, weekly in class quizzes which weren't hard, participation for discussion, and the final which consisted of 10 mini essays. There was also a course reader which we never used (waste of $50), despite him insisting we buy it (again completely unconcerned for his students). I'm still upset about my overall grade, but in general I just regret taking the class in the first place.

Out of the 9 quarters I've been at UCLA, this has been without a doubt the worse class I've ever taken here. And its not even close. The papers are so incredibly specific, with about 3 sentences of explanation followed by TAs trying to clarify what the hell the assignment was for the next 3 weeks. I've never seen a professor been so rude. Which would be one thing if he was good, but he wasted so much time covering the most inane details. I also feel as though I've learned absolutely nothing, besides a few basic facts of philosophical history. Avoid at all costs. If you have to take it, don't bother with the course reader.

This is actually for 170 but it wasn't an option and I thought it was important for me to balance out some of the reviews here. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and the professor. I didn't think I would be interested in the subject, but the professor and the required text made it easy to understand. The course reader was not "necessary" but some things can be useful without being necessary, and the course reader is a great example of that. The workload was hard, but doable in a full course load. He can seem snarky, but, ultimately, extremely knowledgable. He was my first prof at UCLA and an great one at that. If you want to understand the subject your assigned to learn take professor Rescorla, read the primary text(the Kim text), and go to lecture. You'll do great.