Theories of the Good

This course taught me some philosophical concepts that I apply to daily life, and I am able to have a new perspective around society and decision making. This, I am thankful for. The professor is enthusiastic and cares about the material and student, but semi-often gets carried away in analyses where she contradicts herself (maybe by mispeaking, or the theories themselves have contradictions, or she just straight up doesn't make sense idk). This happens at least once a class, and if you don't know to look for it, it could be really confusing. I would take this class again to gain the insight into society and decision making, but if I didn't find the material as applicable, I would not take it again. She is a really nice and accommodating person.

This course taught me some philosophical concepts that I apply to daily life, and I am able to have a new perspective around society and decision making. This, I am thankful for. The professor is enthusiastic and cares about the material and student, but semi-often gets carried away in analyses where she contradicts herself (maybe by …Read more

I took this course fall 25. It would be good to have some experience in reading philosophy before taking this because the readings are intense and the course does assume you have some understanding in philosophy, especially the ethics section. The readings are hard but the professor is very good at explaining during office hours.

I took this class in 25 fall which is now a 200 class. I love Professor Besser and she is very knowledgable in the field of moral philosophy. However the class contents are introductory level and class time is not enough to talk about the subject matters.

I did not enjoy this course. I had never taken a philosophy course before, but I think a lot of folks in the class would agree it was not great. Each class we basically looked at a different philosopher/reading, and never stayed on the same topic for more than a day or two. Thus, I feel like I didn't really learn a whole lot. The professor wasn't the most effective lecturer, but she did summarize most readings. Readings were dense but manageable, I definitely didn't do all of them. She spent a lot of time saying the same thing over and over but with slightly different wording each time, which made things confusing. She'd sometimes say that certain views or interpretations were outright wrong, but never really explained why. Kind of an unexpectedly harsh grader, but she is a very nice person who's willing to help and be flexible. I really didn't like the format of evaluations - although assessments were take home essays, they were far too short to convey and prove what we had learned in class. A midterm should be more than 500 works I feel like.

I did not enjoy this course. I had never taken a philosophy course before, but I think a lot of folks in the class would agree it was not great. Each class we basically looked at a different philosopher/reading, and never stayed on the same topic for more than a day or two. Thus, I feel like I didn't really learn a whole lot. The …Read more

Lots of reading and material was always discussed in class. I never felt myself getting lost -- Professor Besser was good about making sure everyone was caught up and understood the content. Overall good course.

This course is not bad. It is an intro level philosophy course for sure. As a senior Phil minor I find it pretty laid back and chill but for under classmen (especially freshmen), I can see where this course would be hard. She is a tough grader especially if you don't understand the concepts she is presenting. However, if you take good notes (I do so on the computer so I can get down EVERYTHING) she says, you'll be fine regardless of your class.

This course is not bad. It is an intro level philosophy course for sure. As a senior Phil minor I find it pretty laid back and chill but for under classmen (especially freshmen), I can see where this course would be hard. She is a tough grader especially if you don't understand the concepts she is presenting. However, if you take goo …Read more

I don't know if it is the instructor's fault or the class material but most of the theories taught in class is utterly inapplicable to our daily lives and quite difficult to master. The Professor teaches philosophy like Math in the way that philosophy is made binary (she would gladly tell you if your answer is wrong), which shouldn't be the case for philosophy. Not a terribly difficult class but she does grade ambiguously and in a rather tough manner.

I don't know if it is the instructor's fault or the class material but most of the theories taught in class is utterly inapplicable to our daily lives and quite difficult to master. The Professor teaches philosophy like Math in the way that philosophy is made binary (she would gladly tell you if your answer is wrong), which shouldn't …Read more