Grade: 74. An interesting subject with hit-and-miss tutors. Readings were conceptually difficult and not often explained in lectures/tutes. Assignments are done with little guidance, so for first-time philosophers (like me), it can be overwhelming. My tutor was great and tried his best to help, but I've heard others aren't as bothered.

I liked this subject, but I underestimated how hard it would be as a level one philosophy subject. It can get very confusing very quickly but keeping up with the readings and clarifying things in tutes is the best approach. I wouldn't consider it a super easy WAM booster, but I enjoyed it and you can still do well if you put in the effort.

Provides a broad introduction to philosophy; the lecture material is quite basic, but the provided readings can be worthwhile. There is one lecturer for each of the three major topics—epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics—and they will walk you through each new concept and topic, providing sample arguments from multiple perspectives. I was ultimately somewhat disappointed by my tutorial experience, since my tutorials basically amounted to a repetition of the lectures by the tutor and there was little discussion or debate. There is however room for creativity in your essay tasks, of which you will have three. Like for any essay-based subject, strong written skills will be critical, but what's ultimately most important is the ability to ask provocative questions of different ideas and to generate robust and coherent arguments. Additionally, you aren't necessarily bound to an existing canon, so you are free to depend as much or as little on the taught content as you please—so long as you address the questions asked of you.

I did it as a breadth having never done philosophy in my life and it was my worst subject. The lectures were interesting, however, the content was very fast-paced for someone never having done the subject before and so there were times I found it hard to understand. The tutors and lecturers clearly loved the subject though. There were 2 hours of online lectures per week and one very long reading (often incomprehensible and boring in my opinion - took a long time to wrap my head around). There were 2 essays and an exam, which was a 3rd essay that you had 3 days to do. Class discussion was truly informative and often helped me grasp the week's content (don't skip class), however sometimes, particularly in the first topic, I would be so lost during discussions and just not be able to contribute to the discussion at all because of how fast-paced the content was. If philosophy is your thing I'm sure you'd love it, but watch out if you've never done philosophy or anything like it before.

This subject made me into the person I am now! What a wonderful introduction to the field of philosophy. I would recommend this subject to anyone and everyone, no matter the degree :)

Actually a really interesting subject though taking it first semester after still being drained from high school I did not appreciate it. Tutorials were basically get in a room and argue with people about the articles you (hopefully) read before class. Couple of ((((woke)))) takes at times. As a Science student, I definitely think take this once you've settled into more standard uni work in like 2nd year, where you can more appreciate the content and structure.

This subject was very interesting. It serves as an introduction to Philosophy by focussing on interesting cases, allowing students a first-hand opportunity to DO some philosophy, instead of first catching up on the history of philosophical thought. The subject looked at The Trolley Problem (Ethics), Scepticism (Epistemology), Singer's Animal Ethics, Personal Identity, and Determinism. Assessment was via three essays from which a range of topics were given. Lectures were relatively interesting, and James Cleary as a tutor facilitated good discussion in tutorials, though it's a little difficult to get into any proper philosophical discussion outside of a mere recap in an hour. Would recommend.

This is a great foundational subject for those considering Philosophy as a major. It's also great as a breadth, and gives you the chance to explore important movements and ideas that led to our current conception of the Arts and even science.

One of my favourites!

Loved this subject. Sometimes lectures/tutorials were hit and miss but the content was so interesting and I really enjoyed doing the assignments. I also really liked the structure of the course as it didn't feel like the reading was a heavy as my other subjects and assignments usually focused on one or two readings so no further research required, which is where I find I waste a lot of time on when I am writing essays for other subjects. It was also just really cool to finally learn different philosophical concepts rather than just pretending that you know what things like 'metaphysics' and 'epistemology' is in front of your friends.