PHIL 2770

Great course! Simmons is a good lecturer, assuming you enjoy the material. If you're interested in political philosophy, you will be; the readings are very well-chosen. Simmons's book is the most helpful part of the course. He clarifies and elaborates on a lot of the points he makes in lecture, and it's really helpful for studying for the exams. Two papers, 5-7 pages. Nick was an excellent TA; definitely get his section if you can.

If you want an introduction to political philosophy, Simmons is the man.

Simmons is the man! He's hilarious in lecture, and takes the time to take questions after each new section of material is presented, which is awesome. He also has the most interesting/random life anecdotes that make you want to sit down with him and just hear his life story. What makes the course extra enjoyable is the fact that he's actually discussed the arguments of the philosophers you read with the philosophers themselves--Rawls and Nozick being the two that come immediately to mind--and this is both incredibly cool AND helps you understand the intricacies of some of the arguments. The papers were graded harshly; my TA, Luke Hunt, was open to helping people with papers but seemed to give out much better grades on exams than on papers. Overall, I highly recommend the class!! A must for anyone with an interest in political philosophy.

Professor Simmons is amazing! Engaging, funny, vivacious! He made me want to be a philosophy major! I have taken two classes with him. Make sure you take good notes in class. He speaks quickly so keep up. Luke was a difficult TA. He was an easier grader for exams than papers. He only gave out two A's for the midterm paper. He also doesn't comment why he gives grades, so it is difficult to know how to improve or why you got a given grade. Awesome class overall though!

Simmons is a great professor. The reading is super optional because anything important from the reading he will explain fully in class and that is really all that goes on the test. He is a good lecturer and is pretty funny. He also is well-renowned in the world of philosophy and is so extremely smart. I recommend this class.

Simmons is the man. His lectures are so fascinating and his anecdotes are absolutely hilarious. He is an incredible philosopher; I found myself stumbling upon his work in some of my other philosophy classes. Simmons is able to convey abstract concepts in a clear, and concise way. The readings can seem super antiquated and dense, but the lectures really help clarify the material and put it into context. Also, if you're lucky, you'll have Jeff as your TA. The dude swears like a sailor and puts up this front that he could care less about academia but he's so passionate about philosophy and his students. Jeff put in so many hours meeting with students to prep for finals and work on essay drafts, and I can't give him enough props. Jeff's bluntness and cynicism paired so well with Simmons sweet demeanor and the lectures were phenomenal. Definitely one of my favorite classes. If you work hard and are passionate about the subject you'll get an A.

I'll never understand why Simmons seems to have the cult following that he does. Much of the course content is somewhat rudimentary, though you'll need more than just a baseline understanding to do well. The lectures are helpful in that respect, but I never found them very engaging. OK, he's a soft-spoken, endearing seventy-something professor; I've had my share of those at UVA and have found most of them to be more adept at their jobs than Simmons is. Sure, the anecdotes make for a good laugh, but at least half of them had nothing to do with the course material and were instead odd little diversions that apparently just happened to pop into Simmons's head. Some exemplary Simmons tangents: pet rocks, getting lost in Rome, the Augusta National Golf Club, Wilt Chamberlain, and punching future Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito while at Princeton. Others argue that these make the course, but I really don't think they elevated it in any way other than to make an otherwise monotonous lecture somewhat bearable at 9:30 am. The work was straightforward enough; two exams -- without any "gotcha" questions or curveballs -- and two papers. My TA, Sam Lundquist, made himself available and looked over drafts upon request. All in all a perfectly fine class, but it fell far short in terms of meeting my ill-informed, inflated expectations. If you haven't yet taken the class, temper yourself next time you hear the Simmons acolytes around Grounds selling this course to be some spellbinding exploration of political philosophy.

Simmons is definitely a great professor and shows how passionate he is about philosophy. His lectures are really fascinating and I rarely ever zone out. It's true as the review below states that he does sometimes go off on a tangent but I don't feel like it is that often and lightens the mood. The readings aren't necessarily required since if you pay attention to his lectures it's exactly what he talks about but do recommend the book he himself wrote since it usually makes certain concepts easier to understand. Also, I would strongly recommend that you choose your TA to be Jeff Carroll, he is incredibly humorous and swears a ton but he really helps his students however he can and makes it really easy to reach him. He even gave up his own time to do a finals review a couple of days before the exam where you could ask basically any question. He also makes it incredibly easy to understand Simmon's own points of views by using easy to understand examples. Lastly, the way the class is is that your only grades are the two papers you'll have to write (5-7pgs) and then the final and midterm, strongly suggest you go to your TA and ask them about how your paper is going along since it weighs a lot on your grade.

So I took this class as a first semester first year and let me tell you do NOT do that. This ended up being my worst grade and it is NOT a joke of a class. Although the professor is extremely knowledgeable and an expert on all of the subjects covered, the lecture is almost intolerable if you are anything but a strictly auditory learner and the discussion is just as painful. If you do take this class, make sure you get Jeff as your TA who is funny, interesting, and actually engaging. That was my first mistake. He is also more reasonable with his grading than Samuel. All in all, do not let this be the first philosophy class you take at UVA and I wouldn't recommend any first year take it. Additionally, I felt intimidated by all of the 3rd and 4th year students taking it (who were majoring in Political Philosophy) and it definitely doesn't help your grade on the paper when they have much more experience than someone never exposed to the subject before. If you do take it, you probably won't get below a B or B- but just prepare yourself for monotone lectures and, if you have Sam as your TA, boring discussions.