PHIL 2660

Most of the reviews of this class are pretty accurate. Lecture is very interesting, and Merricks is a great lecturer. Your grade is from 3 assessments, each of which you will get the list of possible questions beforehand, and will have to memorize the answers to pretty much exactly. So, lecture is crucial for doing well in the class, but it is also very interesting. I would definitely recommend the class. #tCFFF24

Merricks is the absolute best professor I've had at UVA, hands down. He makes an effort to learn student names, build relationships, and genuinely cares about his students as much as he cares about metaphysics. He teaches without slides, so be ready to take notes, and write down specific examples that he mentions in class for the exam. I had three exams - I personally totally flopped on the first but he curves it nicely, and I went from an F on the first exam to an A overall in the class. Get yourself a study group with the people at your table before exams and ask TAs for help when you need it. #bigfootatheist

This class is 3 midterm exams each worth 33% of your grade. Each exam is 3 "essay" questions asking for very specific info from lecture. Prof Merricks gives you a study guide of 20 questions and then picks 3. You can bring your answers to the TA and Merricks and they will tell you if your answer is wrong and tell you the right answer. You can definitely get an A if you pay attention in class, take good notes, and thoroughly do the study guides. You do not have to do the outside readings.

With that being said the class is not an "easy" A in the sense you can just guess on the exams and not really put in effort throughout the semester. You have to go to every lecture and pay attention and study. But if you do try you know exactly what you need to do to get an A and it's straightforward. So it's an easy A if you try. (For reference, I got an A)

Prof Merricks is incredible. So personable, so knowledgable, and so good at boiling stuff down to main points that are easy to understand. Incredibly organized; every lecture is very well structured. He's a professional.

The class content consists of the ontological, cosmological, and evolutionary/naturalist arguments for/against the existence of God, the problem of evil, the problem of free will, and life and death. It doesn't go into specific religions but instead the idea of theism as a whole.

I loved the class and reccomend to anyone who wants to put in effort.

Wow, if you can take a class with a Professor before you leave UVA, take one with Merricks. He makes lecture very entertaining and engaging, I would always look forward to coming to this class. He welcomes students to raise their own objections and think for themselves. This was one of the most rewarding classes I have ever taken--I had to put in a ton of work but it was very intellectually gratifying. Also the hardest I've ever worked in a class, but I managed to get an A, largely because the instructions are well given and the instructors are so helpful and kind. My TA Ms. Oakley was so awesome, also very funny and engaging. This is a great class also if you aren't a philosophy major because it is an overview basically of a bunch of topics in religion. If you are a philosophy major you should definitely take this class for an elective credit!

I took this class my first semester at UVA, and it was an incredible way to start my college career. This class challenged my mind to work in ways that ultimately made me a better thinker. Merricks is fantastic, cool, funny, and pretty much succeeds in learning the names of all 60 of his students. The subject matter is super interesting (coming from someone who's interested in philosophy - but I would think anyone would find it interesting as long as you don't hate philosophy). The "Religion" aspect refers mainly to the study of philosophical/empirical/rational arguments for and against the existence of God.

There are weekly readings that can be helpful to do, but the only grades come from 3 equally weighted exams. It's super important to go to every class and take detailed notes - the exams ask you about the arguments discussed in lecture. The tests were definitely hard, but he gives you a study guide a couple weeks before and if you're able to fill those out and understand them, you'll be fine. Everyone also makes study groups so I'd definitely recommend joining one.

I loved this course. It definitely was a lot of work to do well but I enjoyed studying for it. Merricks is a great lecturer and you can tell he loves the topic. I really recommend finding a good study group and starting the study guide at least half a week before the test. Make sure you pay attention and write EVERYTHING from lecture down exactly as he says it; you will need exact wording for the test. He is super fun to talk to during office hours and very excited to help clarify anything. The curve is super generous so you will not fail if you put in effort. You have nothing to do until the tests but you must study a LOT for them to do well. Definitely do the study guide and make sure you can answer any of the questions in full before going into the test. Other than that you get one reading every two weeks which isn't bad and you honestly don't have to do them because he covers everything in lecture. It was my hardest class but the one I did the best in and by far my favorite. Zach was also an awesome TA. I 100% recommend this class if you are willing to put in the work. Honestly is making me consider a philosophy major.

This class is difficult, I will say that. That being said, if you listen go to lectures, Professor Merricks lays out the arguments very clearly. Additionally, you have a discussion section that can be helpful if hearing the ideas from a different voice is helpful for you (our TA was helpful to some and not as much to others). That being said, although the ideas of this class are sometimes difficult to understand, once you do "get" them, they're pretty easy to lay out for an exam.

On the note of exams, there are three equally weighted tests. You are given practice questions about two weeks before the exam and anything that will be on the exam are written in those questions- you just need to piece together an answer from your responses that you have already written. So if you take this class, LOOK AT AND ANSWER THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS. They are meant to help you, and if you get them right, you should be okay with the tests. That being said, Merricks grades on a "there are good and better answers" so even if everything you write on your test is correct, you may end up with a B+ because there could have been more to say. With the curve, however, the points you miss are mostly gained back.

Overall, I loved this course, the material, and the professor. I definitely recommend it if you want to explore philosophy and want something challenging but manageable.

I took this class because I had an open spot in my schedule and thought that it would be interesting to learn about and apply arguments against and for the belief of religion/God. In hindsight, I really wish I hadn't. I would not recommend this course to a friend. It's definitely a B+ course and it's extremely difficult to pull off anything higher (still possible though if you're very very diligent and prepare well/just good at philosophy). The course is graded on your ability to memorize arguments in specific detail to a T in the specific way that Merricks is looking for students to answer/spit back out. There are three tests, all essay form, and the course was boring in my opinion; you don't get to apply any knowledge you learn or consider your own arguments, etc. I did not enjoy having Merricks as a professor, at all. At first, when he was memorizing all our names, I thought he would be a respectable, just perhaps strict professor, but this was not the case. Despite what Course Forum says, Merricks is not friendly, he's condescending and calls students out and embarrass them if they said or did something like ask the same question/walk in a minute late, and he definitely made me feel very uncomfortable at times during his lecture or by the comments he made towards other students. It's a small classroom and you cannot miss even one lecture or you will get lost/ will have to get notes from someone and you just have to hope those notes are good.

This course was a huge disappointment. The course has an atmosphere where people are afraid to answer questions because no one is ever right. And if your really unlucky, the professor breaks down every level on which you’re wrong. Grading is all 3 tests each with three short answers. Grading is based off spitting out what the professor said verbatim rather than on any sort of comprehension. There are literally specific words and phrases that he looks for. And if you don’t use them, you lose points. Example: I answered a question perfectly and reiterated what he had told us in class, but I lost 25% of the question because I didn’t use the word “contingent.” Teacher also has a tendency to take jabs at students who are absent. The week after I was absent, he made an example in class all about the fact that I was present today but not every day. It was really embarrassing. I was absent because I had strep.

This class is hard and yet still a blast at the same time, which is extremely rare. You must write everything down from lecture and you must know every little detail. But Merricks is a cool guy and the semester's TA was an actual Dominican Monk, which makes sense since its philosophy of religion. Overall, I'd say take the class, but make sure to understand everything.