Tom Hurka - University of Toronto - St. George Campus, Toronto, ON

Professor: Tom Hurka

Department: Philosophy

College: University of Toronto - St. George Campus, Toronto, ON

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHL275H
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Great prof.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Lectures can be a bit hard to follow because he does not have slides, and his lecture notes are hard to follow, but if you attend lectures and do the readings you can easily do well on the essays and exam. The exam was structured so that you did not need to know every single reading, and essays were extremely straightforward. 80 is easy to get.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHL275H
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Great Professor!! Clear and organized lectures! loved his pop references and humour :D 10/10

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Aweosme in office hours

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Extremely kind, provided good class notes and gave a thorough explications of writings in class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Reminds you of Bilbo Baggins, but in a good way. Not a hard marker, but the mandatory tutorials were totally useless. class felt like a grind, and I think the TA's felt the same way. To sum up the interest level of this class? During lecture, I regularly caught one TA on his phone looking at pictures of his dog. enough said.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Wonderfully hilarious. Prof Hurka is easy to follow and has excellent essay questions. My TA was not so great, but Hurka explains concepts easily with many examples.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The subject matter appears interesting as do the readings. Unfortunately this 'introductory' course lacks organization in it's direction, and this is especially evident during the lectures. Rambling, repeatings, close-minded arguments abound. Poorly worded essay questions contradict themselves. A disappointment.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

An Aristotelian like me. Pretty good lectures, but went over the exact same stuff a few times. Very approachable. I enjoyed going to his office to ask questions and discuss papers when I needed to do so. I'd like to be taught by him again in the future.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

he was very snobby and a very hard marker...even when you make time to go and ask him questions he is indifferent and very unhelpful..probably the worst lecturer I have had in 4 years of university study..lectures are peppered with longgg pauses, ums, broken sentences...can be funny but in general he is very snobby.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I found Prof. Hurka very engaged in class and with his students. His posting of the lecture notes is extremely helpful and he does his best to answer questions, altho' students tend to "ramble" and he only had one hour to cover quite extensive material. He has a witty and clever sense of humour. I hope to be a member of his class in the future.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course:
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I think he resents the failure of his pet project, perfectionism, in the light of deflationist meta-ethical arguments put forth by Raz, Dancy, et al. Perfectionism is b.s., he knows it, so he's grumpy. A petty man if I've ever met one. Way to go Tom!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very hard marker, doesn't really want to be there. Isn't helpful towards students and moreover has a very snobby attitude!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHL375
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He seems nice, but he's not. He seems interesting, but he's not. Sorry, this is too strong...but I found Hurka to be stringent, dry, disinterested, and stagnant.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

nice guy. lectures are sort of dry. as are the readings. tries to initiate class discussion, but the class is usually too bored to get into it.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHL275
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof. Hurka is one of the most unsympathetic and unsavory characters I have ever encountered, which is ironic in light of the fact that he is the proponet of some form of virtue ethic.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHL375
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Gets at the principle of the matter...key in PHL classes