Hard grader but very helpful. Good professor.

Great Professor. Very Helpful. You will learn a lot. In agreement with the previous poster: He is good looking!

He is one of the most intelligent professors I've had. He knows the material. Somewhat hard grader, but worth it to get a great non-scantron and no text book philosophical class.

Although he is a hard grader, he is very understanding and if you take the time to talk to him during his office hours or even through an email he totally gets back to you and does what he can to help.. Plus no text book and you basically what you study in the class

His class was completely lecture, and while I usually don't like that, it worked really well in this instance. He makes it so all one needs to do is show up and take notes, or even just print them off the internet to do well in his class. He also makes himself readily available to his students.

Cool dude, very smart. In class essays that you have to prepare for or he will tear you apart. No BS.

The only reason people don't like this guy is beacuse they cannot keep up. In which case, they should not even be in college. His classes are not easy, but you learn a lot. Do the readings, go to class, and put time into the papers and you will be fine.

Great teacher but is not easy. Most people seem to equate easy with good and challenging with bad. If your not comfortable actually learning and being challenged by a Professor then don't take him and get out of the University, we need the space.

he is really a nice guy, its a good college class, he makes you read the material and hope you understand it. he lectures on it, and the exams are compiled of exactly what is in the readings and the lectures. he is a GREAT teacher. and when he notices when the class is bored of the subject he tells stories from his life. i think he is entertaining.

Informative. good lectures but a bit boring at times. ask questions to make it more interesting. possible to get an A if you attend class and listen to what the professor says so you know how to answer the essay questions.

This is one hard teacher. MAKE SURE THAT BEFORE YOU DO ESSAYS FOR HIM GO TO OFFICE HOURS, ESPECIALLY FOR THE FIRST PAPER!!! He is VERY VERY specific on the kind of paper he wants (philosophy, not english). It is difficult to get an A, but if you go to office hours and lectures you will be fine with at least a B.

Lectures are not too boring. Try to attend his office hours for rough drafts. You'll pass this way:) Overall I enjoyed this class

Tough, but FANTASTIC!

Tough class. Material is interesting and he lets you choose what some of the class material will be. His lectures tend to be boring, asking questions helps though. He'll often go on tangents and tell cool stories when he sees that most of the class is asleep or comatose from his lecture. Laid back personality. Tough but fair class.

I knew about his notorious reputation, but at the beginning of the course he said he would try to control his temper and he did. Actually he was a cool professor, when the lectures became boring, he would break the monotony by telling some of his college stories or criticize movies. The readings were difficult, but he's very helpful during his O.H.

Critical Reasoning is such a straightforward class. It's pretty much like common sense. Professor Rosenkrantz got boring at times but he is a great teacher. When he feels that he is boring the class, he recommends movies to watch or tells us about some of his life stories. Even though he goes on tangents, he always gets back on track. TAKE HIM!

I must admit, at first, I was worried. He came off very arrogant. Within a couple of weeks, he did mellow out and became one of the best professors I have had. He cares about his students. All of them.

I know everyone dreads the semester they have to take Rosenkratz's 204 class, but I must say the semester wasn't all that bad. He's very cool about seeking help outside of the classroom, so take advantage of his office hours to go BEFORE the papers are due to get extra help. His grading is very straight forward, so expect a fair/hard grade.

overall simple class. great professor. attendance is not mandatory but you should go most of the time because its helpful. you dont really need the book. he gives study guides for all "quizzes" (which are worth 100 pts each so theyre really exams). do study guides because they are exactly like the quiz. very helpful.

He's fantastic. he really helped me improve my writing. he's pretty straight forward with the work load. Go to class becasue what he wants in your paper is what you get from class

Great Teacher. Try your best and you will succeed. Have faith in his grading method and try not to get intimidated by the essays but give your best on the essays and you will do good.

really smart professor. really hot man.

Good teacher. Wants concise writing, so cut the BS. Favors analytic over continental philosophy, but this is simply rational, haha. Sometimes funny, sometimes angry. Thinks ontology is Job #1 in philosophy. He was a student of a student of Wittgenstein -- which makes you a student of a student of a student of Wittgenstein, if you take his class.

Very precise and understandable. He gives great notes. Make sure you visit him in his office hours before turning in papers. This man taught me how to write, seriously! It's challenging but, i truly enjoyed the class

His class requires a lot of reading, but I didn't read any of the material and I'm passing with a C. Make sure you attend lecture because his notes are extremely helpful when studying for his exams.

Very easy as long as you come to class! he assigns tons of articles to read but he goes over everything in class, i've never had to read one article. 4 exams (essay/paragraph style) make up your grade, no hw or extra credit. if you study your notes and his study guides, you'll be set.

This professor will make you work for your grades, and while I don't think your writing will improve as much as some of these other comments may lead you to believe, if you take this class seriously your understanding of Descartes, Berkeley, Hume and Kant definitely will. He is a strange man, and he's not very friendly, but he will teach you.

Professor Rosenkrantz gets too bad a rap on here. He's not the easiest, but he's very entertaining and overall a good philosophy instructor. If you want to do well in his class, you better attend every, or almost every, class.

he is a super nice guy and pretty funny but he is a really really hard grader and class definitely can get weird and boring

Difficult class. He gives four tests that consist of mostly short answers and essays. Attend class because what he writes on the board is very useful in studying for the tests. Covers interesting topics, and is occasionally entertaining, but lectures are usually tough to pay attention to.

1) read the articles and understand them if you want an A. 2) copy notes exactly off the board and memorize them. 3) study hard for each test....NO FINAL....follow these steps and you'll be set.

He knows how to get his points across. Go to office hours, no left, wait for the spin move. Copy notes off the board because his defense is solid. Ask questions in class, he can hit the open shot but has little lift. Often out of control in class and in open court. From DC, his game resembles great DC philosophers Steve Francis and Milton Kotler

Great guy,easy going but a tough teacher. He is fair though! USE THE STUDY GUIDES. They are exactly what you need for each exam/paper. That's the only way you'll pass, that and copy down ALL the notes he writes on the board. Attendance is key. besides that, he has a lot of funny anecdotes and stories of his own.

In my opinion, Rosenkrantz is a good professor, but he is not suited to everyone's tastes. Keep in my mind, the reading requirements for his upper division classes are much heavier than for his lower division classes. Also, when writing papers for Rosenkrantz, do not include a general introduction, and NEVER seek to fill up space. Write simply.

Rosenkrantz is known as a difficult grader, but this is largely due to the coddling bad writers receive at CSULB. The reading requirements in Ancient Philosophy are minimal, and I found his prompts to be to the point. Rosenkrantz prefers a barebones writing style. If you think you can bs his papers, YOU ARE WRONG. No filler and you'll be fine.

My favorite professor of CSULB so far. To the point, entertaining, informative, and challenging. Hard grader but is helpful and fair.

For an older guy, Max is really hot. I probably would have dropped this class if he weren't so hot. I could not stop checking him out. Other than that, his class is difficult. I did, however, manage to get a B. But I will never major in Philosophy.

Dr. Rosenkrantz's special topics course on Marx and Foucault was fascinating. It was extremely intellectually challenging and exhilarating to explore the philosophies of these revolutionary thinkers, and Rosenkrantz was a great guide. Grade-wise he is a bit of an enigma. I refer to his grading policy as the Rosenkurve. Two words: office hours.

Great professor. He gives 4 tests, each worth 25% of your grade. I did not realize he'd be such a hard grader on the first exam, so I failed it. The key to his tests is copy EVERYTHING he writes on the board and use that to answer. No EC. Recommend this class, if you're willing to study. I got an A, it IS possible.

just copy everything on the board and practice writing out the diagrams in paragraph form. you basically just do that and you should be fine. i didn't really do any of the readings, but just brushed up on some of the review material and i managed to get an A

The content of the class is really easy, but it seemed to me Rosencrantz often speaks to the lowest common denominator, which often put me nearly to sleep. Rosencrantz is a great professor, and a great lecturer, I just wish he wouldn't go so slowly over things that were simple.

Amazing professor. He expects a lot from his students and his feedback comments take some getting use to. (haha.) But he really is a nice and helpful guy. I'll be taking all of his classes for the rest of my major.

Rosenkrantz is a fair professor. No, he does not hand out A's, but they are possible. His criticism is helpful and he actually makes you write a real philosophy paper (shocker). No, you're not in community college anymore.

You need to read the papers he gives you and do the study guide. Seriously, do the study guide. I never went to class but I got a solid B. He is a fair grader, all you have to do is just put a little effort. He responds to emails quickly and makes it clear on what you should study for for the exams. 4 exams and thats it.

You have to read so many articles that are like 30 pages long. Hated the class just because of that. He's not the most excited teacher. He's very nice and will answer all questions. Tests usually consist of 6 essay questions and some one word answer questions. So you have to study the power points and articles.

This is the class breakdown: grades are based on FOUR tests, each 25% of your grade. Each test is based on 3-4 readings. (EssayShort answer questions) Each reading varies from 10-50 pages each. About the class: Rosenkrantz is relaxed but DON'T procrastinate at all. Work hard and the class will be 100% worth it. No textbook, so no money wasted!

I have never had a professor grade a paper so harshly! He tore my paper apart. But I feel like I learned from it did better on the next paper. So be warned. I find his lectures enjoyable, he goes off on tangents a lot. But he is approachable and friendly.

Professor rosenkrantz is a very simple and laid back teacher. I skipped a good amount of lectures but managed to get an A in the course. He posts all content online including readings (which you don't really need to read), power points, and STUDY GUIDES. The class itself is very easy. Do the study guides with the power points for an A.

The class only consists of4exams, make sure to get good grades on them. If you do the readings for each section, read over the power points, and do the study guides- then the tests will be easy. The study guide is exactly like the exam, he literally takes the same questions and puts them on the exam. make sure u understand the material&ull be good.

Rosencrantz is literally the best teacher I've ever had. He is very relaxed, but you learn a lot. Attendance is not mandatory and Max is cool with submitting late papers. The class is pretty much reading then writing on the literature. He is very clear on what he wants and you can visit him in office hours for more guidance. I highly recommend!!

Max is a cool, chill, and friendly dude who teaches well. He is personable and very laid back. He is approachable I would say, but has a big vocabulary. He explains things clearly, the class is not difficult whatsoever. He doesn't take attendance but I recommend going to class. If you complete each study guide, you'll definitely pass his class!

Max is a very interesting teacher. The subject matter can be pretty dry but he makes it easy to comprehend and connects it to the real world. He can go through the lectures fast at times so utilize office hours. I retained about 70 percent of what he taught in class, office hours helped with the other 30. Would definitely take him again.

I believe that Max is one of the best philosophy professors here! He explains everything in a way that makes the material very clear. I think the people who don't like his teaching just don't give an effort to understand the material. If you take good notes in class you'll be good. I like his teaching so much I'm now taking his Aristotle class!

I struggled with the course because I am not a big philosophical person, but it has a lot of reading.

I got the pleasure of taking Ancient philosophy with professor Rosenkrantz, and although he is a tough grader my writing improved drastically. If youre not a philosophy I would advise against taking this class. Max is a no nonsense grader whos grading is rooted in quality over quantity. Concise writing is such a valuable skill!

He is a funny person and wants to interact with his students about the material. Personally, I didnt read or do anything besides watch his lectures and I still passed with a B. There is a ton of complex reading, so I wouldnt recommend for freshman. Sometimes he adds extra reading on top of that, but its not mandatory.

I'm very happy that I took a class with Rosenkrantz. He has high standards and expects a certain level of intellectual vigor from you. His class just challenging enough that you will have to push yourself to get an A. If you want to learn something, take him. If you want an easy A, dont take him.

Great teacher, good guy. In depth lectures/PowerPoints are online so attendance is not mandatory. You're graded on 4 exams (essay type, in person) and 12 quizzes (online) and if you study a bit you'll be fine. Timely responses to emails, especially if it's a question about the material. He's chill in class and takes time to answer questions we have

Anyone who thinks its an easy A or B is just a genius. Its possible though. I feel like people dont like his grading because he isnt like other professors (no sympathy points). Hes a no BS guy, if he sees that youre writing filler he WILL mark you. He will humble you. That being said he is caring and understanding. 4 exams so do good on all.

There are 3 (closed note/book) written exams worth 90% of your grade. In order to do well on them, you have to prepare a lot and attend every lecture. He is very very specific and it takes a lot of tries to learn what he likes, if you do at all. Outside of exam prep, the class is not much work. I enjoyed the class and he's a nice guy.

Prof was great. He gives study questions that are on the exams (4 total exams). Basically gives you all you need to be successful as long as you put in the work. He doesn't like filler sentences so you'll lose points. Be concise. Super funny guy. Attendance and participation taken into consideration in final grade. Attendance not mandatory.

Rosenkrantz is great! The readings he assigns are so short! All of his lectures were clear and helpful, and he has a fun sense of humor. Homework is easy (credit for showing you read). No surpises on exams - he gives possible questions ahead of time, plus he covers all of the material in his lectures. I really don't understand the negative reviews.

ok..if you want to do well, you have to show up. Though he is a harsh grader, hes looking for answers that mirror the interpretations he teaches in lecture. Its important to pay attention/take notes. Hes funny and his lecture style keeps you engaged(don't be afraid to speak/participation is important) For exams: be concise,thorough+give examples.

To earn an A in this class, you will have to show up, participate, do the readings, and prepare yourself for each of the 3 exams. I took good notes, studied for about 6 hours for each one, and got A's on all of them. Surprise surprise, you will have work to do in this college-level philosophy class! Max Rosenkrantz deserves better reviews.

Rosenkrantz is known to be a harsh grader. Will be difficult at first but once you get a hang of what he wants it'll be easier. His style of grading has taught me how to analyze and write about text much more efficiently. Lectures can be difficult to follow. However, He's a great guy with a fun personality.

If you want to become a better student, take a class with Max. One of the best PHIL profs, and he's very funny. He wants to see examples, explanation, and solid analysis in your writing, along with repeating whatever was said in class. Be sure to participate a lot, as he will bump your grade substantially at the end of the semester for doing so.