AY23/24, Semester 1
Module Type: Lecture
Class Size: Lecture size: ~400 students; Tutorial size: ~20 students
Lecturer: Prof Song Moonyoung
Grading Structure:
Weekly Quizzes (Canvas): 40%
Tutorial Attendance: 10%
Tutorial Participation: 10%
Final Exam (2 hour Open-Book MCQ): 40% (our course voted in favour of open-book finals, so it may not necessarily be open-book depending on your coursemates :))
Review #1
Module Content:
This course is an introductory course to various philosophical problems, ranging from theories of well-being, ethics, consciousness, art, free-will, and religion. Prof Moonyoung also presents various objections and responses to the philosophical ideas discussed. The course is more focused on contemporary philosophy rather than Ancient Greek or Enlightenment-era philosophy. This module is not about the process of doing philosophy or writing a philosophy essay, it is simply about the major themes and ideas. Hence, the questions for weekly quizzes and final exams are MCQs or MRQs. Every lecture will discuss a new reading and topic in philosophy, so it feels more like a crash course in philosophy - don't expect depth of any kind. This course will be fun for those who are taking it with friends, or those who enjoyed the crash course philosophy youtube series.
Prof Moonyoung's style of lecturing is a mix of delivering the content and also answering questions live (either on zoom or irl). You can choose to attend the lecture in person or watch the live webcast on zoom, or watch the recording afterwards. For the first two options, Prof Moonyoung is kind enough to answer your questions during the lecture regardless of whether you show up in person or are watching from zoom. She replies rather quickly for a Prof managing such a large course, and she is a very kind and empathetic lecturer that takes in constructive feedback and helps her students if the workload gets too high. Her replies are succinct - sometimes better than her replies during the lecture - so it is easy to clarify your understanding of the topic. She put up a poll whether we preferred a closed or open-book final exam, and the majority of our cohort voted for open-book. The vote did not heavily favour either side though, so there was a real chance it could have been closed-book (which would have made the final exam questions easier).
The readings and lectures will be tested during the weekly quizzes. Pretty easy to keep up with and do well if you are interested in the topics and pay attention to the lectures and readings. The readings are well-selected, short, and not overly complicated. The final exam was a 25 question MCQ paper, averaging about 2-3 questions per lecture topic.However, it is my opinion that this course should encourage more group participation through weekly canvas quizzes, but of course that needs the work of the TAs in getting people to form groups to discuss the quizzes weekly.
Assignment Structure:
The readings and lectures will be tested during the weekly quizzes. Pretty easy to keep up with and do well if you are interested in the topics and pay attention to the lectures and readings. The readings are well-selected, short, and not overly complicated. The final exam was a 25 question MCQ paper, averaging about 2-3 questions per lecture topic.
Tutor Feedback:
TA: Jeremias
Jeremias seems like a pretty introverted TA, he is decent at communicating his ideas even though he seems quiet and tired most of the time. I think my class was quite dead (it was a Friday 9am timeslot in FASS, go figure), so I could not get a good gauge on what his teaching style would be at its best. He provides weekly handouts summarizing the lecture, tutorial discussion questions, and provides hints for the weekly quizzes. PLEASE attend tutorials first before doing any of the weekly quizzes, as the tutors often give hints on how to answer most (if not all) the questions. Highly recommend taking tutorials with your friends to make things less dull!
Weekly Workload:
Very manageable, and at certain points I almost forgot I was taking this module. It certainly helps to pay attention in lectures and to read the readings thoroughly.
Expected Grade: A
Recommended For:
Recommended for people with friends who are interested in philosophy. I do not recommend taking this course alone, as it would be quite dry and hard to do well for the weekly quiz. Also recommended to pair with GEX1014 Logic which helps you better understand logical validity, necessary and sufficient conditions
Other Comments/Tips:
If you really want to do well, rewatch all lectures and reread your readings before the final exam. Of course, nobody will have the time for this, so it's helpful to form a small group and divide and conquer to create summarized notes. This will be super duper helpful in the event that the final exam is open book. This course has a large emphasis on validity of arguments and necessary and sufficient conditions, with almost 50% of the marks awarded during the final exam to be questions on validity and necessary and sufficient conditions. Try not to lose many marks for the weekly quizzes by paying attention during lecture and doing the readings! Discuss the topics with your friends and you can definitely learn better! Participation marks are easy to score as long as you speak up just a bit during tutorials! The TAs are always trying to help you get more marks, so don't be shy!