PHIL 1410

Favorite class I've taken.

This is a logic class (very If P, then Q; syllogisms; etc.) Attendance is strongly required. 3 open-book take-home tests that can take up to 8 hours to complete, but I felt surprisingly prepared for the closed-note final. I had my ups and downs with this class, but once you accept that Cargile's a pretty awesome guy and you're learning actually something pretty cool and useful, then I didn't care that and was actually satisfied that I ended up with a B in the class.

This is not a class to take if you want a guaranteed A. He's pretty straight-forward about his grading being difficult and tells you so at the beginning of the semester. However, Cargile is one of the best teachers I've ever had. Take this class if you want to go to law school, or if you have any interest in the subject area. It's awesome. Also, NO homework at all.

Cargile is a fantastic teacher. The material is difficult but he holds office hours every day before class so there's no reason not to understand the material. Attendance is highly mandatory but you also can't really afford to miss anyway. Definitely a good pre-law course because it is good preparation for the LSAT.

Professor Cargile is a great professor. He's hilarious, and he genuinely cares about his students. If you go to his office hours with a problem, he won't rest until he's convinced you get it. However, the class was NOT at all what I thought it would be, and I struggled through most of the semester. It's basically a logic course, with syllogisms, truth tables, dilemmas, etc. I found the class to be highly difficult, mainly because it's pretty fast-paced and if you fail to really grasp certain concepts early, it will come back to get you in the end. The take-home exams were also difficult, and often took me up to 12 hours to complete them. He does, however, gives you the chance to take the test over again if you do badly, which was a huge help. Bottom line, I give Cargile an A+ for being an awesome person, but be prepared for a very difficult class. No easy A's here.

Prof Cargile is a very interesting and knowledgeable lecturer. As others have already mentioned, the class is definitely a lot of work, but if you're willing to put in time at office hours, you'll get a lot out of it. Not an easy-A class, but it is worth taking if you're considering going into law.

Forms of Reasoning is a very tough course. There are elements of symbolic logic, but really this course is about critical reading. Most topics deal with translating plain English into formal logic, which can be very difficult, and Cargile is very picky about how that's done. The grades are based mainly on three take homes and the final, and each take home can take as much as 6 hours or more if you're having trouble. It's not always clear what the professor is going for with each question, and his lectures are not very helpful (also, at 9 in the morning they can be hard to stay awake through).

LOVE this class. Professor Cargile is awesome. Never been more proud to get a B in my life, but well worth the effort. Take this class.

Cargile is an old-school bro. He's a passionate teacher of a pretty interesting subject. Go to his office hours because he's an interesting and nice guy who deeply cares about his students and wants to ensure their understanding. The class content is very light on quantity, but very heavy on quality. By this, I mean the reading is short but dense, and the vast majority of your time in class will be spent conducting exercises in small groups. He gives you 3 take-home exams, which can take anywhere from 3 to 9 hours to complete, depending on the person. The exams are open-note, open-book. His grading is tough- despite a generous curve- but he's pretty fair. The only other grade is a close-book, in-class final exam, which you will feel surprisingly prepared for. I would definitely recommend this class for anyone interested in the law. Though for anyone who is not, make no mistake- this is a course on logical reasoning and argumentation.

Cargile is a very traditional teacher, but an excellent one nonetheless. This isn't a hard class if you read the (about $10) text and really understand it, which is made quite easy by the fact that he wrote said text and lectures almost directly out of it. Pay attention during lectures and engage in the small group discussions (you'll do lots of those), and you should do fine.
He has a strict attendance policy, but he's also understanding of any legitimate conflicts you have. Respect him and his class and he'll respect you in return.