Thomas Holden

50 reviews
Hilarious Amazing lectures Graded by few things Get ready to read Tough grader Test heavy Skip class? You won't pass. Caring Accessible outside class Clear grading criteria Gives good feedback Inspirational Lots of homework So many papers Respected Lecture heavy Online Savvy
Past quarters
PHIL 20C
0 / 120 Enrolled
History of Philosophy
Thomas Holden 4.5
T R
12:30 PM - 13:45 PM
44.3% A
PHIL 297A
0 / 15 Enrolled
Seminar in the History of Philosophy
Thomas Holden 4.5
T
16:00 PM - 18:50 PM
82.2% A
ESM 402D
0 / 2 Enrolled
Masters Eco-E Project
Peggy Cotter 2.6 Thomas Holden 4.5
88.8% A
See All
162 . A Month Ago

so this was a pretty good class

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PHIL165 . A Month Ago

Professor Holden is a great philosophy professor. He's funny and tries to make the class as understandable as possible because Hume's works are pretty dense to get through. I didn't always go to lecture, but when I did, he made it easier to understand. Exams are reasonable and just essay questions. Do the readings and you'll do fine! He's great :)

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PHIL20C . 2 Months Ago

Holden is the GOAT. I had him for both PHIL20C and PHIL 167. His lectures are very interesting, you can tell he knows his stuff and he is passionate and thoughtful about the things he says. Even if you're not a philosophy major you'll likely enjoy 20C. Classes are graded on exclusively midterms and finals. If you do readings you'll do well.

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PHIL20C . 2 Months Ago

Prof Holden was okay. lectures were boring and there was tons of reading. no homework so the whole class was based on the final, midterm, and 2 papers. Papers aren't bad depending on your TA. the final was writing and wasn't too bad. I don't even like philosophy so I was so bored.

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PHIL20C . 1 Year, 7 Months Ago

Don't take this class as a GE. I'm a phil major, and even I had a hard time fully getting what Holden was saying sometimes. Graded on 2 papers, and a final. TA grading is harsh if you get a bad one. Lots of reading. If you can keep up, it's manageable. Prof is super passionate/funny, but sometimes unclear. Fine class, difficult for a lower div tho

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PHIL20C . 1 Year, 8 Months Ago

If you're not into PHIL- I wouldn't take this class. I think he is funny to PHIL majors, but I found his lectures bizarre. It's really hard to adjust to a PHIL class and learn how to write those papers if you are from basically any other major.

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PHIL176 . 2 Years Ago

Take him. You won't regret!

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PHIL176 . 2 Years Ago

Class was not too difficult, he posts all of the lecture notes online. I found him to be really unpleasant, so I stopped attending and still did fine. If you're not interested in philosophy you might find the content more challenging.

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PHIL20C . 3 Years Ago

Just want to say y'all are WEIRD calling him hot get a life. A lot harder than expected. Prob will have to actually do the readings & pay attention to get a A/B. No iclicker when I took it. Not an easy A unless u alr know philosophy. Need to do more than follow rubric. Charismatic prof, gave out prizes in lecture. Also gave final Qs in advance.

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PHIL20C . 3 Years Ago

Prof. Holden is the best philosophy professor I have ever had at UCSB! He is a super funny guy, and his lectures are easy to follow even if you do not have any philosophy background. I would definitely recommend taking Phil 20c with him.

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PHIL20C . 3 Years Ago

Very average class. Lectures were "mandatory" but 1/4 of the class showed up by the end because he posted very comprehensive notes and there was no need to go to class. A few papers and a short answer final. Pretty easy to only do the readings for the papers and get by. Holden was entertaining to say the least.

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PHIL176 . 5 Years Ago

His lectures were easy to understand and apply to the required paper and exams. Would you take him again

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