I am an engineering student, so I was scared to take a class that is so paper heavy, but I found this class was worth my time and effort. I do recommend doing the readings (at least quite a few of them, some are hard to read because of the way they are printed) because it makes it easier to figure out which paper prompt you can write best. Lecture can get boring a repetitive, but that's what philosophy is, so that's what you should expect anyways. I went to over half the lectures and I would say they are worthwhile especially if you didn't understand or do the reading. Harold is a reasonable guy and only made us write 3 papers due to COVID 19 and gave us a free A for the last paper. I went to most discussions and had Jimin Lee as a TA and my friends and all really liked her, she sometimes is hard to understand, but gives good examples and helps you understand the material and what she wants from a paper; sometimes she brings candy. Not too hard of a grade if you work a bit for it.

Langsam is a very interesting, engaging lecturer - I wish I attended his class more than I did, because I feel like I would've gotten a lot more out of it. Discussion was OK, my TA (Jimin) had a very heavy accent, and didn't really set clear expectations for our papers, yet graded pretty harshly so I ended with a B in the class. Overall, this was a pretty standard intro Philosophy course, but I don't feel like I learned very much from it. The readings and lectures were pretty straightforward, and it only had about 4 papers all semester, making the workload very manageable; if you need something to satisfy the humanities requirement, I would recommend it.

This course was essentially OK, and if you can, I would highly recommend taking it CR/NC, since professor Langsam's lectures are actually fairly interesting usually, and discussions are also very interesting. The one major issue with the class is that there is little direction for the class itself, and discussions are not really guided in any way. My TA, for example, primarily sat back and let us talk, which is good in most cases, but general direction and some intentional focusing of the conversation could have been beneficial. Additionally, the papers are a bit unclear and, though they can be somewhat interesting to write, challenging not in the way one would seek in terms of philosophical thought but in terms of determining what it is they want you to write about and how to do so.

Unless you’re interested in philosophy, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. I took this class thinking that it would teach me about life and how to have a happy and meaningful life, but that’s not what it was AT ALL. The entire course was useless, as it was just about a bunch of philosophers and intellectual scholars arguing over pointless theories and trying to prove his/her theory to be correct. Even though you can tell that Mr. Langsam is really passionate about philosophy from his lectures, he has no visual aids, and so I felt bored to death every single class. Discussions were useless and boring too. I had Jimin Lee for my TA, and even though she was nice and friendly, she had a very thick accent and it was difficult to understand her at times.

Average course. Not horrible, but not highly recommended. I never did any of the readings except before the paper. Lecture is boring, BUT Langsam is clearly really passionate about philosophy and if you take notes from his lectures it actually helps a lot when it comes time to write the paper because he breaks down the readings a lot.
Discussion was really boring and dry and didn't help me.
If you like philosophy, take it if you're willing to pay attention. If you're looking for an easy A with no work, I wouldn't suggest. Easy B+ though.

The material covered in this class was extremely useful. Although I am not a philosophy major or minor, I would recommend this class to anyone interested in a liberal arts education as it really expanded my horizons. The papers are beyond easy to write, as there are 7 prompts given for each paper and you only need to choose one, and each lecture essentially covers one of the prompts so class attendance is not mandatory.

Honestly this wasn't a bad class. Prof Langsam is very passionate about Philosophy and definitely easy to hear in lectures, to say the least. He explains things very clearly and makes sure to repeat important points. That said, you don't need to go to all the lectures or do the readngs, as long as you go to all of the discussions and do the necessary readings for the papers (there's 4- two 6-8 page papers and two 3-5 page papers). Discussion is a good time where the TA will go over the week's lectures, so you can still participate with that context. I went to probably 30 percent of the lectures, all of the discussions, and only did the necessary readings and I ended up with an A. Just make sure to sice the papers- understand how the TA wants you to write, what style you need to incorporate, etc. Go to discussions.

I loved this class. Professor Langham is outstanding and extremely passionate about philosophy. I went to every lecture, but honestly, you don't have to. My discussion TA (John Mahlan) is awesome and re-explained everything taught in lecture quickly and more precisely. There are only 4 essays. You are given 2 weeks to do them and can talk to the TA as often as you want. Plus, if you write 20+ pages, this class fulfills your Second Writing Requirement. I definitely recommend this class for thought provoking discussion and a requirement fulfillment. I am a Biology Major and again, thoroughly loved this class!

I honestly did not like this class very much. I found it extremely boring and had difficulty sitting through the lectures. Professor Langsam is a great guy, obviously really passionate about philosophy, but he only lectures. I almost never paid attention in lectures and did barely any of the reading and have managed to get As on all my papers. Grade consists 4 papers, totaling 90% of your grade, and 10% for participation. Make sure you get a good TA! They do all the grading. I recommend Andrew Morgan-he's super nice and doesn't get awkward or mean when no one knows what to say in discussion.

Great second writing requirement for those who wouldn't call themselves expert writers! writing philosophy is very different from normal papers and the structure they want is explained well, to the point, easy, and makes sense! Langsam can seem hard to understand at first but go to class and listen and it will eventually all make sense!! #tcf2016