You will probably not get an A in this course. The papers and midterms are graded by TA's who think they know everything. They want to make original arguments in papers, but grade you down when they don't understand. Don't take this with Gertler either. If you plan on fulfilling a requirement for this class, take a different one. Philosophy is interesting, but the grading distribution takes all of the fun out of the course.

SO sad there are so many poor reviews. Note that few of these people have any interest in philosophy, but instead took the course to "fulfill a requirement." This class essentially was the reason I became a philosophy major. Gertler is sometimes dry, but her ppt slides = SO HELPFUL (she GIVES you the argument). While it's tough to do an intro course, she does a nice job of going over the essential issues and packs in a wide range of philosophical thought. Both Gertler and Doug were more than happy to make themselves accessible for questions after class or during office hours. If you like philosophy, you will like this class. If you just need to get a requirement out of the way, then this might require a little too much effort than you're willing to give.

Easy, quick readings. 2 papers, 1 midterm and a final, not too difficult.

Class is boring overall, though it broaches a few thought-provoking topics. Don't really need to do the readings, just go to lecture and she breaks everything down (basically summarizes the readings)

This class is boring and Brie Gertler's powerpoints are pretty useless. She takes up most of the slides with quotes rather than emphasizing important points. You don't have to do the reading but the tests are annoying and so are the lectures.

Worst class I have ever taken at this University. Brie Gertler's class absolutely sucks and the topic is boring. The arguments in the class are really stupid and I had no interest in the subject, when I thought that I would have.

I really did not enjoy this class. I took it to fulfill my humanities requirement and I so regret this! I stopped reading the book because the arguments the writers were presenting completely escaped me. Gertler went over everything during lecture anyway, but the topics get more complicated and boring as the semester goes along. I felt I had a good understanding of all of the topics, but the essays are graded so harshly! The short answer questions on the midterm and final are easy, but its the essays during the semester that hurt my grade. Don't take this is you don't have to.

Lectures were great. She went over the reading point by point, but was not boring when doing so. Not much work involved, and you learn a lot