Class record · PHIL · MCAS

PHIL 5512

Philosophy of Existence · 1 instructor on record · 4 sections

What the course score is made of

91BC evaluations4 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022 – Fall 2024

—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of

41stMore challenging than 41% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

89BC — “Intellectually Challenging”4 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of

25thMore work than 25% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

40BC — “Workload”4 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

An introduction to the main questions of existentialist philosophy from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to Heidegger, Sartre and Camus. The major issues dealt with include freedom and determinism, desire and death, anxiety and the search for the absolute.

The only instructor on record

4 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge	RMP overall
Richard KearneyCharles Seelig Professor in Philosophy · Philosophy	924 records	25th	41st	9410 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Richard Kearney is the only instructor with evaluation records for PHIL 5512, so the number is a record, not a position. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Richard Kearney

6 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
PHIL 5518Philosophy of Imagination	13 records	91
PHIL 7820Phenomenology of Desire	12 records	93
PHIL 1709The Art of Creativity: Crisis and Transformation	11 record	91
PHIL 5009Hermeneutics of Film	11 record	93
PHIL 6687Philosophies of the Earth: Readings in Ecological Hospitality	11 record	88
PHIL 7260Hermeneutics of Hospitality	11 record	95

Other PHIL classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
PHIL 1071Philosophy of the Person II	71247 records	84
PHIL 1070Philosophy of the Person I	65207 records	82
PHIL 1091Perspectives on Western Culture II/Perspectives II	39144 records	87
PHIL 1089Person and Social Responsibility II	20104 records	88
PHIL 1088Person and Social Responsibility I	1969 records	88
PHIL 1090Perspectives on Western Culture I/Perspectives I	3067 records	84

The line

All 13 items · means across 4 records

The Professor4 items

Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.

9454th pctl

Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.

9029th pctl

Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.

9242nd pctl

Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.

9551st pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

9469th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

9359th pctl

Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.

9566th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

9153rd pctl

Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.

8114th pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

8316th pctl

Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings

WorkloadHow much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.

4025th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

8941st pctl

Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.

9358th pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

4 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Richard Kearney	Fall 2024	01	97	94	40
Richard Kearney	Fall 2023	01	94	90	—
Richard Kearney	Spring 2023	01	92	92	40
Richard Kearney	Spring 2022	01	87	89	40

How to read this boardInstructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.