Tips for Doing Well


First: Attend Class

I design exams and grade papers on the basis of what I cover during lecture and discussion. Thus the most important advice to you is to attend class regularly. If you have to miss a class, be sure to get the notes from another student and discuss them with that student and/or with me. DO NOT expect to be able to pick up the information from readings or simply memorizing someone else's notes. Questions on exams are designed for comprehension, not just memorization. Philosophy is difficult to learn just reading it on your own; you have to see philosophy in action, and participate in discussions, to understand the arguments and ideas. Nevertheless...

Keep Up With the Readings

Lectures will make far more sense if you have done the assigned readings in advance. Not all classes are like this, but philosophy is. Compare philosophy to a math course: if you fall behind, and don't fully master early material, then you will be completely lost later on. But if you learn the early skills and information, everything else will come more easily and you will end up saving yourself much time and frustration. So if you complete the reading assignments before each class session, and review them afterwards, you will do far better in the course. Leaving the readings until the end of the semester and trying to cram is unlikely to work.

Discuss With Friends

Form a study group with students from the class, or find some other way to discuss the ideas covered by the course. Nearly every major philosophical issue can be discussed at a very general level with any other intelligent and willing human being. In the course you will be expected to move beyond that general level, into the layers built by a history of philosophical distinctions and argument. But it can help enormously to talk about the issue at a general level with friends, and even introduce them to some of the more subtle and complex ideas you learned in class. This will ensure you have a good grasp of the issues yourself, and might even be enjoyable! If it was good enough for Socrates, it should be good enough for you!

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