2.3
Quality3.7
Difficulty20%
Would Retake100
Reviews20%
Would Retake
100
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
15
4
13
3
12
2
19
1
41
What Students Say
“He tends to lack tact”
34200 - 2.0 rating“He is the wildest, unclear, rambling, and awful prof i've had (with that being said he seems like a nice guy)”
REAS100 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
28%
Textbook Required
60%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.32 avg changeRatings by Course
34112
5.0
(1)34160
5.0
(1)CRIT
5.0
(1)RATIONALISTS
5.0
(1)WPHIL110
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
EMPIR01
5.0
REAS100
5.0
0134110
5.0
PHIL2730
5.0
PHILOSOPHY
4.5
Reviews (100)
Helped me to UNDERSTAND myself
what is he talking about?????
excellent prof, course was very rewarding, very helpful and kind
very smart, helpful, interesting
Really knows what he's talking about, encourages class participation, willing to clarify anything you don't understand.
Good Prof, was sometimes a little boring, but his course made you think a lot
It's one of those classes that you either get it or you don't, but Professor Guetter does everything he can to make sure you do.
Good prof, but he goes all over the place. Sometimes it's confusing.
Brilliant speaker - Very passionate and funny, extremely helpful, friendly and outgoing Prof. If only they were all like Dr Guetter.
I have to hand it to the guy, he tried his darndest to help me understand the material, however the class was a blur. He was always available after classes for additional help, and was very approachable.
... TO DR. GUETTER!
he seems like an nice guy and all.. but probably the most boring monotone speaker alive, and he's very good at jumping around... never really clear what he's talking about
Guetter deserves tenure more than any professor I've ever had a class with. The fact that he doesn't have tenure yet speaks of the complete lack of sense the philosophy department at Windsor makes. Oh yeah, and here's a little toast for you - ... TO DR. GUETTER!
Guetter seems nice, but his lectures are terrible. He barely addresses the texts he assigns us to read and he jabbers on about nothing. He's very unclear and disorganized and it seems like he doesn't even prepare anything. Also, his comments on our essays need to be less brief so we know how to improve! "Good insight" doesn't help much.
He's a wonderful person, and probably intelligent. He cannot lecture at all (poor in structure and delivery) and he justifies there being a '0' rating for the 'clarity' score on this site.
the guy is passionate over his work.however,if u dont HAVE to take Reasoning skills find another elective.His contemporary issues is ok.prepare urself for a lot of things flying over ur head..in the 1st 2 weeks.
Lectures are hard to follow and long winded. Be ready to interpret philosophical text yourself, becuase good explanations from thisprof are hard to come by.
Awesome Prof. Finally I learned something useful in University.
Such an energetic class. Guetter did a great job relating ethics to real life and creating an interactive class.
Not a bad prof, but really long winded at times. Still managed to convey the necessary points, but in a rambling, dry manner. Tests were pretty easy, but did not prepare us for the exam at all.
i thought the class was going to be fun and interesting, but the lectures were terrible.. he drags on and on and rarely stares on topic.
Not bad overall, but he doesn't explain content clearly enough. He will talk in a very general, vague way about the reading for that class, and will digress into lots of his own thoughts and examples, but for the most part he will avoid explaining the details of the arguments he expects you to understand and his lectures seem to lack preperation.
I wouldn?t recommend him to someone who has never taken a philosophy course, as he doesn?t spoon- feed interpretations. He is a very good lecturer though, and the essays/tests are fair and valid; if you are a philosophy major/minor I highly recommend him.
If this is your elective then DO NOT take it with this guy. It seems only the philosophy majors enjoy him. He talks about nothing, rarely discusses the textbook, and you can't approach him. Everything goes through his TA, marks, concerns, complaints... ridiculous. Good luck.
Reasoning Skills course > Do not go to his class, simply read the textbook over until you can preach about non-animals being not non-humans or whatever. I've never ranked a perfectly English-spoken teacher on here with a clarity of 1 before. He speaks words, a bunch of random words. Cheers and enjoy the ride.
Interesting but long winded lectures. A little more emphasis on class interaction would be nice.
He talks about nothing. He never addresses the reading. He jumps from nothing to nothing. There's no point in going to the class. He does examples on the board, which I then checked on the website, and they were wrong..he did them wrong. Do not take him.
His lectures are very interesting, however, you probably won't understand unless you do the readings. He gets off topic a lot and likes to go on little rants (which are still very interesting). He does end up repeating himself a lot though. There is some class discussion. He's also very approachable and helpful. I loved this class.
Rants and rants and rants and it doesn't even make sense. He doesn't follow the text book, just preaches about what he thinks morality is. It's like a long-winded after-school special. Don't attend the class - just do the essays.
This prof is in all seriousness a complete jerk. My father died and upon returning to school on my first back, he told me I had to write my midterm the next morning at 8:30, giving me no time to prepare or catch up, he simply said his time was very limited and that I should bring earplugs cause he had another class to teach. Also, the man rambles.
Nice guy, his lectures are really confusing unless you read the book. Gets off topic alot. Overall I'm pretty happy with him
My favorite professor! everything he talks about is so interesting. He is a very intelligent man. Knows exactly what hes talking about. Really helpful and made class interesting.
Hardly ever talks about anything in the textbook, and tends to go off on rants about unrelated and useless information. Highly unapproachable and hard to understand. Even in the syllabus he writes is difficult to ascertain any important information. I would definitely not recommend taking a class with this guy.
He is extremely hard to follow! If you haven't read the text book there is absolutely no point in attending the lecture because you will have no idea what is going on. He spends the entire class rambling about God knows what. Do not take if you have never taken philosophy or if you are taking it because you think it will be easy! YOU WILL REGRET IT
Overall good prof, go to lectures for the participation, they are easy marks and his rants are great. Papers felt hard but got 80's on both. Good class to take would recommend books are cheap and truthfully I didn't use them all that much.
I needed to leave a comment as it is evident many students have got it all wrong. He is an excellent lecturer; a philosopher full of various ideas. If you listen closely to his words, his wisdom will unfold. I absolutely adore this class! Expand your mind and take this class :) He is quite insightful and makes class intriguing.
Explains stuff very thoroughly and contradicts himself a lot if you tie in lectures together. When approached he will explain but as he would in class, so if you don't understand the class you wont understand him. Asked for clarification on my first paper why my main idea was wrong, he refused to talk about it. Don't recommend this class
One of my favourite professor! He can be hard sometimes but if you pay attention in class and do the work you will do great. The first paper he was pretty easy on marking but he starts to mark harder after. Just read the books before class or else you wont understand what he is talking about. Easy and very interesting first year course to take!
He is a weird guy that makes simple ideas much more complex than they need to be.
Horrible class if you are not a philosophy major... do NOT take this class. The essays are impossible to write because the topics are very controversial. Prof contradicts himself from class to class. However he is very nice. But that won''t get you an A. DO NOT take this class.
He constantly contradicts himself. He talks about how people who are not philosophical should go and kill themselves, or deserve to be killed. He is completely biased on his decisions and will not take kindly to any arguments. He denies the existence of other arguments and when you make a good point in class, he labels it as trivial and meaningless
If you have absolutely no interest in questioning life and are NOT contemplative: do not take this. If you want an easy A - take psych. His method is to SHARE ideas written by philosophers by directly speaking to the class; these ideas are not his and whether he agrees is not relevant. If people ACTUALLY paid attention, this would be obvious.
I went to go pick up a paper from him to find him calling the student already in his office a "baby" for saying that he got lost trying to find his office because he had misread his email (I had done the same thing, as the email was confusing). Not appropriate. He tends to lack tact.
I found that he tends to curve the marks higher if he knows the class is struggling. Or if you yourself needs help he will work with you to get your mark up. Easy grader on essays and papers but tests were difficult. Very willing to help if you attend class, he can always tell if you go to class or not and will help based on that.
Everyone says this Prof. contradicts himself, when in fact he's just very good at arguing any position. Makes discussion very interesting if you engage in it and have read the materials, which is expected in any philosophy course. You need to really put in the effort for a good grade in his classes, which is only as difficult as the subject matter.
One of the worst teachers I've EVER had. This guy almost never makes any sense and 9/10 times I leave an hour into his lectures and chose to teach the lesson to myself. He also frequently switches between talking normally and raising his voice to make a point.
Attending class and taking notes is important if you want to pass. He is very open to any comments or opinions that students may have about certain topics and also makes you question what you already know. If you don't understand something, it is best to see him and he will take the time to help you. Overall, fairly good professor.
First time I've ever met a pseudo-intellectual like this lol. Jesus Christ sitting in his class right now makes me want to walk out. I regret taking Reasoning skills with him. Slides are all online but you need to attend class to know what goes on later on in the course.
Dear lord I have never been more lost and hopeless in a class before - I cried when I passed this class. He is the wildest, unclear, rambling, and awful prof i've had (with that being said he seems like a nice guy). Half of what he says doesn't make sense. Are cats dogs? After this class I don't know anymore. DONT TAKE REASONING SKILLS WITH HIM.
Took this course, people said it would be an easy A, I would suggest choosing another prof, this guy is really good at outlining your rules, obligations and rights however is terrible when it comes to actually teaching, its a nightmare. It's hard to follow, so be ready to teach yourself, He is a good person but that won't help you pass.
Good philosopher. Intense lectures-make notes! SHOW UP for class-10% bonus! Paper 50% - unfortunately marked by aide and not very fair but aides change so you may get lucky with a different one. Mid term- easy! Final marked by the prof. and very fair.
I loved having Guetter. He's clearly passionate about his work, in every lecture. He's always open to making time for a student if they need help, but he won't chase you down either. He makes you work for the grade, but he'll help you up if you fall. He's a tough grader, but it's for the ability and capability of the student that he's tough.
Made me think but also confused me so much. Taught me to not take philosophy again.
Guetter is a good professor. He is able to strongly convey philosophic thoughts to his students which in turn can make his students engaged in the content. He has reasonable grading practices and understands that some of the philosophy material is overwhelming for some students.
You can tell he really loves what he does. He goes out of his way to engage in thought-provoking discussion with students, and is willing to take as long as you need to explain something if you don't understand. Try not to miss lectures, and take notes from the book. This course might make you think a little differently for the better.
Dr. Guetter knows a ton about Philosophy and clearly cares about it a lot. His lectures are pretty dry, and often end up losing you halfway through a point. With that being said, I think the course is fairly easy to pass, just don't expect to get clarity about the theories because there is SO MUCH to learn. This might be a necessary evil, though.
He does not explain anything properly. He is a rude person( does not care about you as a student). He posts things for maybe the first 4 weeks of the semester than stopped and we had to do everything for ourselves. He does not give good feedback. DO NOT TAKE A COURSE THAT HAS HIS AS A PROF
I just think philosophy isnt my thing.. I found him responsive to emails but right from the start hoe he structured the course was not clear and was confusing... No idea on what my grade will be since my paper mark hasnt been released yet. I just thought the material would be more interesting for an elective
David is definitely not my favourite prof. Maybe I'm just not good at philosophy but I feel like it's because of the actual class itself. Lectures are soooo long and he kind of goes off topic a lot. Also, he SUCKS at answering questions. Literally just tells me to google things and look at the instructions (as if I didn't before emailing). Big no
Horrible teacher would never take this class ever again listen to the reviews he is confusing and doesnt help at all
Prof literally just made lectures in 2020 (upload time for all the videos) and is re-using those lectures. Quiz questions not made by him, tells you not to contact him if you ever have a problem on any of the quizes. Do not recommend.
Worst Prof ever, tells you you can always ask for help but will not help you if you email him, instructions on everything are extremely unclear and then gives you bad grade and is very rude when giving you comments on your rubric. Will never take any courses like this ever again. Content was interesting, teacher sucked.
Reasoning skills was a tough class but if you showed up and asks for clarification, you should so well. The exam was worth 50% but it was open book so if you put in the work during the semester you will do well. I dont know if its still like that though. He was a great teacher I think. A little quirky, but nice
Online class, the average 64% with a median of 66% WITH a 5% bonus. Essay (40% of grade) had unclear instructions and extremely difficult marking with no ability to refute. MC quizzes (10%) he had to be corrected multiple times on MC answers and was not open to explaining his answers when asked. Grades are not accurate to students' work and time.
His online lectures are posted and they range from 1-2 hours. very boring to listen to. monotone voice. I couldn't tell you what I was learning throughout the semester. His weekly quiz answers are literally half wrong so ya. Would not recommend any class with him.
David Guetter literally ruined philosophy for me. This was my first philosophy course in uni and it was the worst class I've taken. It was online async and really felt like it! He was inaccessible and his guidelines are beyond confusing. Major paper outlines were incredibly cryptic and took days to write. I feel sorry for anyone who has him
Will not get back to you if you email him
I encourage others to make their own opinion about profs regardless of what ratings say but the 2.9 speaks volumes. His syllabus and assignments are so disorganized and cryptic they require decoding just to understand them. You have to take 4 quizzes to unlock the rest of the assignment. Quizzes also dont correlate to material learned.
His syllabus and content are so hard to understand. The course was so disorganized and I was left in shock on how bad the course was. I had a hard time understanding the content of his course. The lectures are 1-2 hours long which looks like it was filmed 2 years ago. He doesn't get back to your emails. I would not recommend him at all
He uses a lot of pre-recorded material and some of them he included ads in, even the mandatory ones. Lots of quizzes, complex grading criteria and non-flexible. Not fun unless you like the material.
The worst elective I've ever taken. I normally would not suggest relying on reviews but would seriously warn anyone against taking his classes. The assignments and grading criteria make ZERO sense and are set up to make it nearly impossible to pass, even if you do all the readings. I'm normally an A student and like most profs, but this was awful!
He doesn't want to teach and I don't want to learn so lets all get our win here Dave; Find a digital copy of whatever text you are assigned. Cache this copy into chat gpt. You now win any and all encounters with multiple choice which is well over half the course. If a glorified word search makes him a professor, so to will it make you a scholar.
The class is very disorganized
He was my first philosophy prof in university, he almost killed any joy I had left for philosophy. His grading system is ridiculous, makes the paper due at end of term but if you hand it in by the end, you basically get failed. Grades the papers extremely hard, expects me to know everything as a first year. He just recycles his recorded lectures
This class is very difficult to follow. The instructions are unclear and in lengthy paragraphs. Do not recommend.
Extremely disorganized and just awful in general. Either doesn't reply to emails or really rude.
I honestly had no clue what he was saying the entire semester. He clearly enjoys philosophy however he literally speaks like an ancient Greek man. He speaks but it felt like he was just saying words, if that makes sense?
Dr. Guetter's class was taken online asynchronously. If you are going to take a course with a similar arrangement, beware that you will teach yourself. If you are okay with that, then go for it! Lectures were not worth my time—they are recycled from other courses and do not make sense really. All in all—not hard material, just hard to put up with.
Do not take any of his classes. The guidelines for assignments aren't clear. He also makes it extremely difficult to appeal grade and will potentially lower them if you appeal. The TA's are awful. Avoid his classes at all costs.
Dr. Guetter, realistically, isn't that terrible. If you've taken an online course in high school, it should be a breeze, definitely not the easiest in terms of electives. The main issues are that the research assignment is explained in a complicated way (but it isn't that bad), all tests are simple M/C, and lectures are boring due to the format.
Instead of making multiple choice based on the actual concepts of philosophy proposed by established philosophers, Dr. Guetter opts to make all his questions based on obscure names and metaphors that he himself creates that are nothing more than the ramblings of a delusional man. The essay is marked to a degree that doesnt match a first year course
I was told not to take this professor, but I actually really enjoyed him. His lectures were interesting, and he was very accessible. Multiple occasions replied to my emails during the same day. Gave the option for late marks and made the class accessible, putting the needs of the students. Large time frame for an assignment and tests, very grateful
Dr. G's lectures were very insightful, and I didn't mind listening to them. He is also quick to reply to students. However, his quizzes for this class were based on obscure things he would mention in lectures rather than being about grapsing concepts. The final allowed for more critical thinking which was nice. Paper was graded tough but fairly.
States in the syllabus that he will be rounding the class average down to 65% due to it being easier since it's an online course and 65% is what the average usually is when he does the class in person. After reading that egregious policy I felt future students should know about this if they are planning to take the course.
Was overly complicated and difficult for nearly every assignment or task, especially for it being an online course. The lectures always felt like they started in the middle of a thought.
Even though this course had four designated 'textbooks', they were never used in the class. If you don't have previous knowledge of philosophy don't take this course, it comes with the expectation that you do. Lectures were over an hour long and incredibly boring. Assignments are easy but literally useless, and he isn't the best marker.
Wow, wow, wow. I reallllllly disliked this class. This prof was NO help whatsoever, I still don't even know what I'm doing in this class and I'm almost done it. His lectures were so boring i almost ripped my hair out. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS W HIM.
Said the textbooks are required, but you should just get them online for free; they are not that important. I thought this was supposed to be an intro class, but it did not feel like it. The main research paper did not make any sense, and even the feedback was terrible because all it said was "nice" and "?".
Don't take his classes, change your major, drop out, jump before you take his classes. Rounds final grades down significantly; my final grade of an A was rounded down a whole letter grade, and I lost a scholarship because of it. IM NOT EVEN A PHILOSOPHY MAJOR. If I could go back in time, I would bite a bullet before I take this again.
dont even need to pay for books or anything. midterm and exam is all online mc.
This class was easy. The problem is this prof. This guy talks in circles during his lectures and rubrics are not clear at all, and the way the class is set up is just so unusable. Furthermore, this guy curves down your final grade down a full letter grade if not more to "match his in-person" class. Don't take him if you want a good GPA.
Worst class I've ever taken. Got curved down 9 percent just because the class was online and therefore deemed "easier" to him. Instructions are overly complicated when they don't need to be. If you decide to appeal grade he can lower it if he chooses. Overall, it seems like he wants students to struggle in this class.
If you are required to take this course and are religious, pick a religion and pray. Do you love to feel hatred and the burning desire to watch someone have a downfall? Guetter is perfect to be your professor. Not only does he teach through 11-year-old YouTube videos, but he is a sassy little girl who was told no candy when he replies to your email
His course has still tanked my average to this day, so I thought I would come pay his rate my prof a visit. He shouted and cursed at me over teams. Keep in mind I was a 17 year old girl and he's a grown man, in his 60's maybe. Terrifying. Avoid at all costs.
This guy curved my grade downwards because its an online course and OTHER PEOPLE may have used AI. DONT take PHIL1100 online, just take it in person. It is so much better
This professor has seemingly made both the worst bright space page he possibly could have, and the worst exam and lecture formats I've ever seen. 225 MC question exam? There's not even enough content in this class for 120 MC. If you want your interest in philosophy to wane, I suggest taking this class. It's more of a repellant than Neitszche.
I'm a fourth year student, and I have never experienced a multiple-choice test with 225 questions. I took this class for an art credit as I'm not a philosophy student, and I can't believe how ridiculously difficult this professor makes this course. This class completely dropped my overall average.
This “professor” wants to hold his online class to the same standard as an in person class. So why does he refuse to effectively deliver his lectures, communicate with students and relies upon subjective forms of multiple choice exams as a means of grading instead of application and factual information?
Worst prof, curved down grades just because course was online,my gpa went down and the lowes grade I recieved so far was in his course, lectures are on you tube and quality sucks. Avoid at all costs
225 MC questions on final?? +curved down grades as grades should match to his in person class grades
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
28%
Textbook Required
60%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.32 avg changeRatings by Course
34112
5.0
(1)34160
5.0
(1)CRIT
5.0
(1)RATIONALISTS
5.0
(1)WPHIL110
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
EMPIR01
5.0
REAS100
5.0
0134110
5.0
PHIL2730
5.0
PHILOSOPHY
4.5