If you have had philosophy of religion with Trenton, you know what to expect. This class is structured the same way, except one test is replaced by a paper. You do three drafts of the paper, which certainly makes you write a better paper than you normally would have, but since Trenton grades on a strict curve with only the best students getting A's, and since every student does three drafts, your grade will probably be about the same as it is in other phil classes....sad.

Great for Phil majors; this is not the class to take if you have not yet taken any philosophy or have and struggle with it. Merricks is very hard and grades on a curve with the best few students getting As, but he is one of the best profs at UVA -- heck he won an award for it!

This class was definitely a challenge, but Trenton Merricks is such an enthusiastic guy that it's definitely worth the time and effort.

Merricks is very enthusiastic and a prominent metaphysician... If you're a philosophy major, try to take metaphysics with Merricks, though I hear Cargile's class is good as well. They will focus on different topics. The class is tough and the 2 exams and final paper are graded comparatively (against other students). Exams are straight forward. You do 2 drafts before turning in the final paper.