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Philosophy 1A03

 
Philosophy 1A03
Philisophical Text
Published by kokosas
06-13-2008
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Author review
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Professor Rating
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Interest
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Easiness
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Average 83%
Philosophy 1A03

If you like traditional philosophy, the philosophy that shapes the society that we know today then you would probably enjoy this class. Unfortunately, this class does not cover all of the philosophers that have made huge impacts on our society but the prof picks two or three. Philosophers that may be studied include Plato, Descartes, Hobbes, Hume, Marx, Mill, Nietzsche, Russell, and De Beauvoir.

In my year Dr. S. Panagiotou taught this class and he focused on Plato's Republic and John Stuart Mill's On Liberty. Dr. Panagiotou is not teaching this class for the 08-09 year but when he did there was one essay on either Mill's and/or Plato and a final, there was no midterm.

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Old 06-24-2008 at 09:56 AM   #2
ferreinm
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This is the course that made me want to switch into Philosophy. I also had Dr. Panagiotou. He is amazing! He is so passionate about what he speaks of. The only slight downside is that we focused on two texts only. We spent about 80% of the time on the Republic. Nevertheless, it was a class I enjoyed and never dared to skip. It was really interesting!

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Old 12-18-2009
nerazzuri1
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Old 12-18-2009 at 03:38 AM   #3
nerazzuri1
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Philosophy 1A03
Professor: Dr. Barry Allen
Format: 2 Lectures, 1 Tutorial (per week)
Year: 2009 - 2010
Textbook: Classics of Western Philosophy (Ed. 6) ($40-$50 used from Titles)
Term: 1

I'm writing this review as a first year student having just finished the course about a week ago. Also note that this review is probably moderately biased as philosophy has been something I knew I wanted to study since grade 11.

I highly recommend this course to any person with an inkling of curiosity about anything about: existence (ontology), aesthetics, morality, and knowledge (epistemology). If you ever found yourself falling asleep in class out of boredom or ever find yourself pondering questions or things that seem completely impractical then you should take this course - hopefully you get Dr. Allen!

Also, this course is not meant as a complete and comprehensive overview of all Western philosophers but as a foundation for further, more specific studies in philosophy.

Material

At the beginning of the course Pre-Socratic philosophers were discussed very briefly. Some of the Pre-Socratics include: Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Anaxagoras. It is moderately interesting but you are still swept up in the beginning of the year festivities.

Next, the professor discussed at great length the Socratic philosophers which include: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. I found much of Plato and Aristotle to be boring. The one reading that I recommend you do (if you don't do any else) is Plato's "Republic." It discusses a lot of his views and is a good summary of his thought on knowledge. Almost all of the course refers back to Plato and Socrates as they are the foundation for much of Western philosophy

The professor then discussed the Greek philosophical schools such as: the Skeptics, the Cynics (briefly), the Epicureans, and the Stoics. These schools just expand on and tweak the ideas of Socrates and Plato for most of their views.

Next you skip to St. Augustine and St. Anselm. I think this is where a lot of people decided not to attend classes much as the material was becoming increasingly boring for them. Baruch Spinoza and David Hume are then discussed.

The course finished with two lectures on Friedrich Nietzsche. This is, in my opinion, the most interesting of all the philosophers talked about in this course. Read his publication "Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize With a Hammer." He refutes Plato's and Socrates' views on knowledge, and morality and writes with vibrant passion and optimism - it is almost contagious.

Evaluations

3 WRITING ASSIGNMENTS: 20 % EACH
- 1000 words
- Pick one of ___ number of questions and write a response in essay format
FINAL EXAM: 40 %

The writing assignments are straightforward as long as you've gone to all the lectures and read the materials. We had 2 weeks to complete them. You should get at least a B on all of them even if you leave it to the night before the due date (which I do not recommend).

For the exam, the professor gave us the questions in advance that were going to be asked. We were to pick one of four I believe and write a response. I would say this has so far been my easiest exam.

Professor

Dr. Allen speaks very confidently and clearly about such difficult topics. He makes things understandable without diluting the significance or impact of the idea. He was also very open to questions during lectures and even after lectures. From what I gathered the short time I spoke with him, he seems extremely dedicated and well-informed. He doesn't have much of a temper but will not tolerate speaking while he is during a lecture. He is also doesn't mind audio recording of his lectures (which I recommend doing).

**Please comment if I missed anything or if I was being too brief or if this is too long as I plan to make more reviews**

Last edited by nerazzuri1 : 12-18-2009 at 03:45 AM.
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Old 06-30-2010 at 02:18 PM   #4
icecubz
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are there any presentations in course?
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Old 06-30-2010 at 02:22 PM   #5
jhan523
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Quote:
Originally Posted by icecubz View Post
are there any presentations in course?
There's a course outline for this: http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=2866 1
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Old 05-01-2011 at 10:02 PM   #6
oranges
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I took this course in the Fall term of the 2010-2011 year, and I have to say, it was my absolute favourite course. It's a basic introduction to a lot of important philosophers throughout the history of philosophy, and covers a bunch of them, from the Pre-Socratics to Nietzsche. (The Nietzsche portion of the course was my favourite.)

Dr. Barry Allen is part of the reason I love this course so much. He's extremely well-spoken and knowledgeable, so much that it's almost inspiring, really. I have yet to hear a complaint about him. However, he doesn't use Powerpoints and doesn't post notes online (in fact, the course didn't even have a page on Avenue), so be prepared to take notes. He does use an overhead to put up some notes, though, which helps emphasize any important points from whatever dialogue or work he's going over. But really, as long as you go to class and listen intently (and you don't mind actually reading the works), you could probably get away with not taking notes. I took them anyway, simply because I loved listening to him and didn't mind taking notes along the way.

When I took this course, there were three writing assignments worth 20% each, a final exam worth 30%, and tutorial participation which was worth 10% of your final mark. The writing assignments were really easy and straightforward, and as long as you go to lectures and pay attention, you shouldn't have any difficulty with them. The exam questions were given beforehand, and you simply had to pick one of them and write an essay answering the question. So it's not hard to do well on the exam.

Overall, this is a really great course if you're interested in philosophy, even if only a bit. And even if you're not... who knows, it might spark an interest. This course solidified my interest in philosophy, and (as you can tell by my major) eventually lead me to major in philosophy.
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Old 09-11-2011 at 09:33 AM   #7
Sanjeet-10
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how is the professor for this course?
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Old 12-17-2011 at 10:37 AM   #8
davied
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In highschool I kinda liked philosophy and thought it was easy so I took this course and honestly I hated EVERY moment in this class LOL. The material is really dry unless you like philosophers like Socrates, Nietzsche and like to translate their pieces to modern english. The essay marks all depend on who your TA is and how they feel TBH. So you never know what you're gonna get back on an assignment. The tutorials are mandatory and extremely boring because my ta would ask questions and you would have those two kids just talking while the rest just sat there awkwardly staring into space. Not to mention the TA's didnt even try to learn our names LOL. Dr. Allen is a great prof but the material is just too dry for anyone to stay awake for the whole hour. The exam was an essay question and 20 m/c questions that were based off the readings. All in all I wouldnt recommend this course to anyone that wants to take it as a elective! Only do so if you enjoy philosophy.
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Old 02-19-2012 at 02:03 PM   #9
mjrussell
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It was a very interesting course and Dr. Allen who taught my year is a great prof. There is a lot of focus on Plato but you will get a foundation of knowledge in quite a few classical philosophers. The essays weren't too difficult nor was the final exam. After this course I knew I wanted to minor in philosophy (I am a science student).
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Old 08-29-2012 at 03:37 PM   #10
kevpatrick27
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A perfect segue into western philosophy.
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Old 12-31-2016 at 08:59 PM   #11
fluffy2125
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I just finished this course with Barry Allen. I'm in the compsci program and took 1A03 as an elective.

This was by far my favourite course this semester! The way Dr. Allen speaks is so dramatic and entertaining, you basically don't want to take notes and just listen to him and absorb everything he says.

The course covers the trends of Western philosophy going all the way back to the pre-Socratics and up until the late 19th century with Neitszche. Dr. Allen emphasized the development of rationalism in western philosophy, where it started and where it ended up in the modern era. He spent a lot of time in lecture talking about Socrates, Spinoza, and Hume, whose works take up most of the course pack.

The course was not very difficult. There are 3 essays where you study passages from the texts and answer questions about them. The exam was not very hard, it was (surprisingly) multiple choice and mostly tested that you know the key ideas from each philosopher.

You can safely skip a couple of the readings and still do well, as long as you attend lectures so you have an idea what's going on. The content is super interesting and there's lots written up online about the texts if you get stuck on any of the ideas. Dr. Allen explains things so clearly in lecture that doing well isn't an issue with a bit of effort. Tutorials with my TA were also very informative, and were a great way to review important ideas covered that week.

I highly recommend this course with Dr. Allen, he's an amazing prof!
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