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PHIL 120 Final

meeshmeesh
edited April 2007 in General
Yikes, tomorrow is my phil 120 (moral philosophy) final. has anyone had any experiences with it? was it difficult?

I'm really worried about this course because for one, i don't know whether the marks will be bell-curved. the average so far (based on my papers) is about a C+ and from what I know, in my tutorial class there has only been three As on the three papers we've done.

I've been working pretty hard for this course and it's so frustrating to get back my papers and see that i've just done average...so i need to rock this final...but i'm not very confident about it...
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Comments

  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    Im worried too....:(
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    Cinnamon said:
    Im worried too....:(
    yah, how are you studying for this final?

    for me i'm basically studying all the terms/definitions first, and then skimming through the philosophers we've studied.

    lol i hope we don't have to analyze any passages :(
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    Im going through all the philosophers and writing down all the main points/definitions. Plus, going through the objections and replies. Do u know how u did on the final paper? I hate the TAs for not letting us pick them up before the exam. Im not very comfortable going into the exam knowing 40% of my grade. Im pulling an all nighter :(
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    yeah i have no idea how i did :(

    i'm pulling an all-nighter too lol haha we should keep messaging on this board...in case we don't understand something?

    because i've just been a floater in this course--neither really having a handle on the content, but not really doing that bad either.
  • siuying
    edited April 2007
    i've taken this course before.. who's your prof?
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    siuying said:
    i've taken this course before.. who's your prof?
    Samuel Black
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    Im really not looking forward to this exam. He was very vague about the content but he did say it was easy. I wish the material was easier to understand though. I dont seem to be grasping much.
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    Cinnamon said:
    Im really not looking forward to this exam. He was very vague about the content but he did say it was easy. I wish the material was easier to understand though. I dont seem to be grasping much.
    yeah, i know what you mean and i only wish that he wouldve given us some sample questions to work with.

    same goes with my essays, i don't know about you but my TA was very vague.. he always told me i had good ideas and potential...but he would never elaborate. lol
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    This class sucks, period. I didnt get anything from this course. Im just hoping to pass. Im going through the last 2 philosophers and Im having a lot of trouble understanding their views. My TA didnt really clarify or simplify anything. The notes he gave us in tutorial was always the exact same as the ones from lecture so he didnt help us understand anything but rather he was repeating everything from lecture.
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    no kidding. i'm just looking forward to get this over with. ive barely studied anything...lol
    so good for you for getting this far atleast.

    right now,
    Canucks >>>>>>> philosophy
    :)
  • Malakaiii
    edited April 2007
    Just a tip that there is lots of information online too. Try checking Wikipedia if you need help understanding a philosopher. :smile:

    Good luck to both of you! Philosophy classes are difficult and the subject matter is not my cup of tea.
  • siuying
    edited April 2007
    oh gee... i had tiffany.. sorry i can't help much on this... =\ he gave us a list of possible exam questions.. and all 4 questions actually came off that list.. what format did he say the exam is in?
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    Format is short answers I think. Damn Canucks! All I have to say for myself is that I am sooooo screwed.
  • siuying
    edited April 2007
    well if that's the case.. study the concepts don't worry so much abt the defn because i don't think they gonna base a short answer on a defining a term..=) make sure you don't get your philosophers and concepts mixed up..
    and lastly...


    GO CANUCKS!!! i'm gonna be screwed for my make up exam too.. =(
  • Malakaiii
    edited April 2007
    You have an exam on MAKE-UP?! :tongue:
  • siuying
    edited April 2007
    lol.. if it was only that easy.. i would pass with flying colors.. X)
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    lol i would fail on an exam on make up as well...i only and have only used eyeliner, eyeshadow and foundation.

    but all jokes aside, canucks rock. =D
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    Arghhh, anyone want to explain Nietzsche and Harman? OT again! Cant a girl get a break? lol
  • Malakaiii
    edited April 2007
    Okay, Wikipedia has an obscene amount of info on Nietzsche, but just scroll through to read what you need.

    And there is an article on Harman, but I don't know if it's the right one?
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    lol i'm nowhere near Nietzsche and Harman yet, but I think the concept of the ubermensh (supermen) is an important concept of Nietzsche's philosophy. Also, the master/slave morality. sorry im not quite there yet so i can't really answer your question...yet! i'll get back to you on that!!! in the meantime, OT has just started so...ummm...yeah back to hockey haha

    man i've got my priorities straight.

    /edit
    I love Luongo/I hate Sopel.
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    Sooooo mad right now!!! Great, I have no idea what u are talking about ^. Let me know when u get there!
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    haha okie dokie. the only reason i know SOME things about Nietzsche is because I wrote my craptastic final paper on him.
    we'll get through this together...i have a huge cup of steaming hot coffee at hand...

    ps. at least the game didn't pull another Game 1, so I can actually study now.
    i'm only on Hobbes right now :( hahahahahahaha i'm so behind.
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    Im starting @ Hobbes right now too. So what are the objections besides the Natural Function argument(Plato)? No more coffee for me tonight. I was starting to shake earlier so I stopped the caffeine flow.
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    ok, i was just talking to my friend who is in our class as well, she says that the prof said if we haven't done our readings, we are basically fucked (excuse my french, i swear a lot). what do you think? is this a ploy to scare us shitless?
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    Isnt that great. It's impossible for anyone in that class to have done all the readings. How is the exam suppose to be easy then? The readings are difficult to understand for the most part. I heard him say that too. Someone asked him what if they just studied from the notes and not read the book and he said in that case we would be taking our chances.
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    Cinnamon said:
    Im starting @ Hobbes right now too. So what are the objections besides the Natural Function argument(Plato)? No more coffee for me tonight. I was starting to shake earlier so I stopped the caffeine flow.
    Hm, all i can think of is the Natural function and maybe the Ring of Gyges example, where people wouldn't follow the social contract if they wouldn't get caught.
    and maybe those who Psychological Subjective Egoists, that is those who pursue their self-interests and their self-interests are subjective to their preferences, because if those people who are appointed to be the absolute sovereign are all subjective egoists, then it defeats the purpose because they will pursue what is best for themselves? i don't know...i 'm just really pulling this out of my ass.
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    Cinnamon said:
    Isnt that great. It's impossible for anyone in that class to have done all the readings. How is the exam suppose to be easy then? The readings are difficult to understand for the most part. I heard him say that too. Someone asked him what if they just studied from the notes and not read the book and he said in that case we would be taking our chances.
    well then, i guess i'm going all-in...
  • Cinnamon
    edited April 2007
    LOL. I do remember him saying that there isnt any way to bs your way through the exam. You either know it or you dont. Psyc Egoists says that we are motivated to act only to our advantage right?
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    wow. he really knows how to kick us while we're down......

    hmm ok, so from what ive gotten so far,
    Normative Subjective Egoists: individuals only have reason to do something if that something advances their desires.

    Psychological Subjective Egoism: individuals are motivated to pursue their self-interest (egoism), and their self-interest is equated with the satisfaction of their desires.

    so yes, I think then from reasoning that ALL psych egoists are motivated to act only to our advantage...
    or i sure do hope so or else i'm even more screwed than I already am...which...seems implausible because if you graphed how screwed i am for this exam, my location would be on the co-ordinate (infinity, infinity)
  • Malakaiii
    edited April 2007
    Just a tip for reading/writing intensive courses where you haven't done all the readings (this happened to me in English):

    Know the readings you DID do very well. That way you can up all the space you can with what you do know. If you can do at least 1/3 of the readings this way that's a good start.

    Try to summarize the ones you didn't read. Check out Wikipedia or Reference.com or just Google them. As long as you know a couple of things that the reading is about you can BS the rest of it.

    Only focus on the reeeally important stuff. For English I was more worried about themes than character names (for example). I'm sure you can quickly pick out what is important.

    Try to predict some questions and study toward those. Looks like you guys are already working on that, so keep with it!

    Good luuuuck! And remember to try to get some sleep. Also, stop studying at least 10 minutes before the exam and think some calm thoughts. Your brain has a hard time recalling information under stress so this really is key! And remember to pace yourself in the exam. Stretch, look into the distance (I prefer the ceiling), close your eyes and take some deep breaths.

    Remember that it will all be over soon and will just be an unpleasant memory.

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