Sheldon Smith
Department of Philosophy
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3.7
Overall Rating
Based on 69 Users
Easiness 3.5 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.9 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.8 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.9 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

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GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
55.8%
46.5%
37.2%
27.9%
18.6%
9.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.9%
29.9%
23.9%
18.0%
12.0%
6.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

26.9%
22.4%
17.9%
13.4%
9.0%
4.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

19.5%
16.2%
13.0%
9.7%
6.5%
3.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

22.1%
18.5%
14.8%
11.1%
7.4%
3.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
Clear marks

Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

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Reviews (51)

2 of 6
2 of 6
Add your review...
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A
Dec. 21, 2023

Professor Smith is adorable. He is so passionate about this class, which is very straightforward. You don't need to do ANY of the readings, or even go to lecture really -- just read the notes he posts and you will get the main ideas. For the two exams, he gives out study guides 2 ish weeks prior. The exams are almost EXACTLY what the study guide consists of, so just memorize that!
You don't need to like philosophy or understand any of it to do well in this class, just memorize terms and their meanings!! Good luck!

Helpful?

0 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+
March 1, 2023

Very interesting class and great professor.

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Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Jan. 31, 2023

Professor Smith is a kind and funny individual. He does a great job at explaining what can be quite complex concepts. He is always open to questions being asked and is known to be flexible and understanding if there a circumstances which require a deadline extension. I had no prior experience with philosophy but even with no error knowledge I felt the class moved at a steady and consistent pace. There is a textbook require but it can be accessed for free online. The readings, which are assigned as roughly a chapter before every lecture (2 lectures a week) could get to be a bit long but I found them pretty digestible and rather interesting, though the 2 philosophy articles assigned were a not as accessible in terms of language. I also recommend reading each chapter prior to lass as it helps lecture go more smoothly and feel more like review. The course was structured so that we only had 3 graded assignments our midterm, paper, and final exam. The final exam was online and open not due to the TA strike but the midterm which was traditional was identical in structure and filling out the study guide Professor Smith provides makes it entirely manageable. Lectures are recorded on burin cast but I recommend attending in person as the content is actually very interesting, and I found it to be more engaging in person as opposed to when it was recorded due to the TA strike. Overall I highly recommend this class as it was great and engaging course to have for my first quarter at UCLA!

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Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Jan. 7, 2023

Prof. Sheldon Smith is very passionate about Philosophy so if you genuinely like philosophy you will enjoy this course. I personally got stuck in this class and wasn't interested at all in the topics that were taught so the lectures were not very helpful for me, in fact I stopped going after 2 classes. Attendance is not mandatory and is not really necessary. There is a midterm, essay, and final each worth 1/3 of your grade. There is no homework at all and if you just complete the study guides before the tests you will do fine.

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Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Dec. 28, 2022

I really recommend attending lecture, as almost 100% of test content comes directly from lecture notes and his lecture. Overall pretty interesting/thought provoking class, but the lectures can be a little bit dry at times. Smith is a funny guy and enjoyable to be around, and he tries to keep it interesting. Generally speaking, easy class as long as you attend lecture and try to pay attention.

Helpful?

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Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Dec. 28, 2022

I barely went to any of the lectures or read any of the textbook. They were both complicated for me to understand and follow. However, Professor Smith’s lecture notes were super helpful and clear, and I had the most incredible TA (Jurgen!!). My TA would make handouts of all of the important things to know about the reading which was helpful for studying (but you can basically find all of the information in the lecture notes). Both my TA and the professor were easy to reach during office hours, though I do think my TA was way more clear and made concepts simpler than the professor. The professor was SO kind and was accommodating/understanding amid the TA strike. The midterm and final were really easy in my opinion based off just studying the lecture notes and my TA’s handouts a few days beforehand. There was honestly no work for this class— just studying for the midterm/final, writing the paper, and the readings if you do them. I would recommend this class for an easy GE (can satisfy physical science or philosophical analysis) or a major requirement (I’m a cognitive science major).

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Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Dec. 15, 2022

Love this class, professor and I got a great TA. Good GE, and I would take it again.

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Quarter: Spring 2021
Grade: B+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Sept. 13, 2021

This class is alright. The quizzes were fair. Lectures were boring (at least for me). And writing the essays were annoying. I felt that my discussion section was not helpful at all so I stopped attending them. I also did not read the book (which I probably should have to do better on the quizzes) and I got a B+ so the class is not very difficult.
-
I AM SELING PDF VERSION OF "Theory and Reality, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science" by Peter Godfrey Smith. Send me a quick email:
*************

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Nov. 12, 2020

The material in this class is so abstract that you will hardly fully understand any of what is covered. However Smith is such a nice professor and was as helpful as one could be about such an abstract field. I've heard worse things about other Philos 8 professors and I feel like Smith does his best so I'd recommend anyone who has to take this class to take it with him

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Sept. 19, 2020

I took this class because I needed an easy GE and it ended up being a lot more content than I was expecting. With no philosophy experience beforehand, I found myself confused a lot of the time, and pre-recorded lectures didn't make it much easier. However, the quizzes were open note and questions were more definitional so they were pretty easy. The only hard part were the essays because the prompts were so lengthy and basically rambled on. My TA's office hours were the most helpful in clarifying though and it ended up paying off so I'd say take this if you're a strong writer!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A
Dec. 21, 2023

Professor Smith is adorable. He is so passionate about this class, which is very straightforward. You don't need to do ANY of the readings, or even go to lecture really -- just read the notes he posts and you will get the main ideas. For the two exams, he gives out study guides 2 ish weeks prior. The exams are almost EXACTLY what the study guide consists of, so just memorize that!
You don't need to like philosophy or understand any of it to do well in this class, just memorize terms and their meanings!! Good luck!

Helpful?

0 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+
March 1, 2023

Very interesting class and great professor.

Helpful?

0 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Jan. 31, 2023

Professor Smith is a kind and funny individual. He does a great job at explaining what can be quite complex concepts. He is always open to questions being asked and is known to be flexible and understanding if there a circumstances which require a deadline extension. I had no prior experience with philosophy but even with no error knowledge I felt the class moved at a steady and consistent pace. There is a textbook require but it can be accessed for free online. The readings, which are assigned as roughly a chapter before every lecture (2 lectures a week) could get to be a bit long but I found them pretty digestible and rather interesting, though the 2 philosophy articles assigned were a not as accessible in terms of language. I also recommend reading each chapter prior to lass as it helps lecture go more smoothly and feel more like review. The course was structured so that we only had 3 graded assignments our midterm, paper, and final exam. The final exam was online and open not due to the TA strike but the midterm which was traditional was identical in structure and filling out the study guide Professor Smith provides makes it entirely manageable. Lectures are recorded on burin cast but I recommend attending in person as the content is actually very interesting, and I found it to be more engaging in person as opposed to when it was recorded due to the TA strike. Overall I highly recommend this class as it was great and engaging course to have for my first quarter at UCLA!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Jan. 7, 2023

Prof. Sheldon Smith is very passionate about Philosophy so if you genuinely like philosophy you will enjoy this course. I personally got stuck in this class and wasn't interested at all in the topics that were taught so the lectures were not very helpful for me, in fact I stopped going after 2 classes. Attendance is not mandatory and is not really necessary. There is a midterm, essay, and final each worth 1/3 of your grade. There is no homework at all and if you just complete the study guides before the tests you will do fine.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Dec. 28, 2022

I really recommend attending lecture, as almost 100% of test content comes directly from lecture notes and his lecture. Overall pretty interesting/thought provoking class, but the lectures can be a little bit dry at times. Smith is a funny guy and enjoyable to be around, and he tries to keep it interesting. Generally speaking, easy class as long as you attend lecture and try to pay attention.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Dec. 28, 2022

I barely went to any of the lectures or read any of the textbook. They were both complicated for me to understand and follow. However, Professor Smith’s lecture notes were super helpful and clear, and I had the most incredible TA (Jurgen!!). My TA would make handouts of all of the important things to know about the reading which was helpful for studying (but you can basically find all of the information in the lecture notes). Both my TA and the professor were easy to reach during office hours, though I do think my TA was way more clear and made concepts simpler than the professor. The professor was SO kind and was accommodating/understanding amid the TA strike. The midterm and final were really easy in my opinion based off just studying the lecture notes and my TA’s handouts a few days beforehand. There was honestly no work for this class— just studying for the midterm/final, writing the paper, and the readings if you do them. I would recommend this class for an easy GE (can satisfy physical science or philosophical analysis) or a major requirement (I’m a cognitive science major).

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Dec. 15, 2022

Love this class, professor and I got a great TA. Good GE, and I would take it again.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2021
Grade: B+
Sept. 13, 2021

This class is alright. The quizzes were fair. Lectures were boring (at least for me). And writing the essays were annoying. I felt that my discussion section was not helpful at all so I stopped attending them. I also did not read the book (which I probably should have to do better on the quizzes) and I got a B+ so the class is not very difficult.
-
I AM SELING PDF VERSION OF "Theory and Reality, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science" by Peter Godfrey Smith. Send me a quick email:
*************

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A
Nov. 12, 2020

The material in this class is so abstract that you will hardly fully understand any of what is covered. However Smith is such a nice professor and was as helpful as one could be about such an abstract field. I've heard worse things about other Philos 8 professors and I feel like Smith does his best so I'd recommend anyone who has to take this class to take it with him

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A+
Sept. 19, 2020

I took this class because I needed an easy GE and it ended up being a lot more content than I was expecting. With no philosophy experience beforehand, I found myself confused a lot of the time, and pre-recorded lectures didn't make it much easier. However, the quizzes were open note and questions were more definitional so they were pretty easy. The only hard part were the essays because the prompts were so lengthy and basically rambled on. My TA's office hours were the most helpful in clarifying though and it ended up paying off so I'd say take this if you're a strong writer!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
2 of 6
3.7
Overall Rating
Based on 69 Users
Easiness 3.5 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.9 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.8 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.9 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

There are no relevant tags for this professor yet.

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