Class record · PHIL · MCAS

PHIL 5528

Skepticism, Stoicism, and Neo-Platonism · 1 instructor on record · 2 sections

What the course score is made of

81BC evaluations2 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2023 – Spring 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

69thMore challenging than 69% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

93BC — “Intellectually Challenging”2 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

78thMore work than 78% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

60BC — “Workload”2 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.

Ancient philosophy is the period following Aristotle and stretching into the third century A.D.,Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy. A number of philosophical schools flourished: Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, Middle-Platonism, Neo-Platonism. Some had sophisticated answers to questions in epistemology, ethics, and metaphysics: Does the human mind use mental language? Are we responsible for our thoughts? Is pleasure the goal of life? What kinds of emotions does the wise person have? Can Plato's account of the Forms be enriched by Aristotle's account of God? What is the metaphysical status of Socrates' "daimon"? The primary emphases of the course are Stoicism and the Platonisms.

The only instructor on record

2 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge	RMP overall
Sarah ByersAssociate Professor · Philosophy Provisional	772 records	78th	69th	6615 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Sarah Byers is the only instructor with evaluation records for PHIL 5528, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 2 records, which is thin — read it as provisional. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Sarah Byers

6 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
PHIL 1091Perspectives on Western Culture II/Perspectives II	39144 records	87
PHIL 1090Perspectives on Western Culture I/Perspectives I	3067 records	84
PHIL 1722The Formation of Early Christian Thought: A Philosophical Examination	14 records	67
PHIL 4405Greek Philosophy	13 records	76
PHIL 6605Augustine	13 records	93
PHIL 5247Aquinas and the Classics	11 record	72

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 2 records

The Professor4 items

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

8411th pctl

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

782nd pctl

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

8310th pctl

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

8818th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

9357th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

8936th pctl

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

8717th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

8415th pctl

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

8419th pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

712nd 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.

6078th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

9369th pctl

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

9676th 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

2 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Sarah Byers	Spring 2024	01	83	92	60
Sarah Byers	Spring 2023	01	70	70	60

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.