So I'm going to be honest. i took this class during my first quarter at UCLA (I'm a first year transfer), during COVID-19, and i stopped showing up to lectures and discussions after week 3. We only had two graded assignments, both were essays, but one was worth 65% of our grade. This scared me because i fell really behind and stopped doing all the readings but I'm honestly great at working under pressure so i managed to leave the class with an A-. I can't really speak much of the professor but my TA was extremely helpful and the version of Plato's Republic that we read was easy to understand. From my experience, it's honestly an easy A just keep up with the readings and watch lectures and videos (I still managed without watching any tho, but i don't recommend it).

I thought this class was really interesting. At first, I was a little lost, but I would say watching the lectures he posts and the readings are very important, as well as taking notes. While the class can be kinda challenging, if you are willing to put in the effort to understand the content, it should be an easy A. The first half of the class is focused on Al-Farabi, who is a little easier to understand, and the second half is Avicenna, who has some more wild thoughts, but if you attend the discussion, it'll make it more digestible. Would take this class again!

Lectures & discussion attendance mandatory. Lecture slides are available online after lectures. Prof is a bit difficult to follow & he talks in circles but he's entertaining to watch. We read The Republic by Plato and a few different works by Aristotle. REALLY make an effort to understand The Republic because as EASY as it seems (it's dialectical) the TA's put the problem sets under great scrutiny. Most of your learning will be done in discussion so come prepared to participate and ask questions. We spent 6~ weeks on Plato and 4~ weeks on Aristotle, so the Aristotle section is really hard to grasp. If you're going to pay attention to any lecture & be an active participant in discussion you MUST do it for Aristotle. The problem set will be under the same level of scrutiny and is significantly harder than the first one. Truly ask your TA's how to deconstruct the questions in the problem sets. Specifically, what the protocol is for when the question asks about arguments versus theories. They will let you know when you have to outline the premises of Plato/Aristotle's arguments versus write your own. They won't read drafts or outlines so have a clear understanding of what is expected.

Grading Breakdown:
• Problem-Set 1 = 32% (Due: 11/11)
• Problem-Set 2 = 33% (Due: 12/12)
• Attending all 18 of Crager’s lectures = 21% of final grade
• Attending all meetings of your discussion section = 10% of final grade
• Discussion section participation = 4% of final grade
"For purposes of this course, by a ‘Problem-set’ we mean a (take home) multi-question long
form writing assignment that students complete by submitting (appx.) 5-8 pages of carefully
thought out philosophical prose"