3.0
Quality4.0
Difficulty29%
Would Retake99
Reviews29%
Would Retake
99
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
24
4
19
3
18
2
13
1
25
What Students Say
“Fantastic professor if you actually want to learn, and a great asset to Shawnee”
PHIL2320 - 4.0 rating“This has been by far THE worst class Ive taken in my college career”
RELI2230 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
96%
Textbook Required
20%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.88 avg changeRatings by Course
10
5.0
(1)3360
5.0
(1)PHIL200
5.0
(1)PHIL3200
4.5
(2)PHIL320
4.1
(7)Difficulty by Course
PHILOSOPHY200
5.0
PHILALL
5.0
PHIL2000
5.0
INTROTOPHIL
5.0
PHIL2320-90
5.0
Reviews (99)
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He test you over a particular interpetation of classical philosophers, which is debated even between experts. The subject matter is to complex to do that.
Subject matter is difficult, not much he can do about that. BUT, I think he could stand to be a BIT more OPEN MINDED!!
Thinks that his opinion is the absolute RIGHT opinion and expects everyone else to believe the same way, which is ironic, because it is PHILOSOPHY!! Avoid at all costs. Don't look back. Just keep running!
He is a very narrow-minded induividual!
Prof. Meriwether is a hard grader when it comes to essays. He says homework assignments (which consist of 20 pages or more of reading after every class) will bring your grades up if you do them all. He IS helpful and very funny too!
I cannot stand when people say that a professor is bad just because he or she is challenging. I've never had a problem with Dr. Meriwether's classes. Sure, they are difficult, but this is philosophy, and I like the challenges he presents.
Library king great dude will help you anyway he can.
He is so funny! I had dreaded taking this class b/c I heard it was hard. Now, it is my favorite class! He is NOT closed-minded. He asserts his opinion, but allows students to do so as well. Very intelligent, admirable, and an asset to SSU!
Why does everyone keep saying he's closed-minded? Absolutely not true! He does assert his opinion, but also allows students to do the same. He never once told anyone they were wrong. He simply urges everyone to look at issues from all sides. VERY good professor! Sexy and cute as well!
I liked him. He was NOT easy but he really pointed out some very thought-provoking issues. A little less Aristotle would have been good though. There are numerous other Philosophers besides him! All in all, would take this Prof. again.
One of the best peofesors I have ever had. Treats students with respect. Enjoyed all the class discussions/debates.
This man is so hard that it's not even funny! I had him for Philosophy and Senior Seminar and I suffered through both classes. It was a nightmare. His tests are extremely hard and his train of thought is on a totally different level than most of the students in his class. However he will help you when you need it.
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AWESOME Professor! His courses are thought provoking, enlightening, and absolutely fabulous. Be ready to work though, he does not play around. He teaches on a higher level than most at SSU, but is always willing to help if you need him. I highly recommend him if you are seeking real knowledge!
Avoid this professor. I took this class for one of my G.E. classes and it was terrible. His class is the only one i ever recieved a C in. All my grades in other classes (including 400 level classes)have been B+ or A's. That should tell you something about how he grades.
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i hated that i had to drop the class this quarter but i will definately retake it with him. i have learned so much in such a short time and absolutely agree that every student should have to take this course.
Very challenging, intellectually stimulating course. You will work hard in his class but if you apply yourself you will get a great deal out of it.
Dr. Meriwether is one of the best professors on campus. Yes, he is challenging and he'll remind you that he's not going to give you an A "just because." He has a good sense of humor that keeps the lectures interesting. I had dreaded taking the class but I secretly love it.
Horrible prof. He is the most egotistical man I have ever had the displeasure of encountering. Did not learn a thing from him. I did better on my own. He does assign a lot of homework, but it is not bad. He also has double standards. He missed the first day of class because he forgot that class started that day.
The hardest and most boring class I ever had. I was so bored I almost jumped out the window! Dr Meriwether is a real nice person though, I just wasn't interested in the material. Not his fault though.
Keeps me interested
In the one and only class that I went to before I dropped, he seemsed pretty nice until I said something that was not HIS opinion on the matter. And his first assignment (given the 1st day) took me all day to complete. Needless to say, I dropped the class and will take it with Newman even if it is an 8am class
He is a nice guy, but horrible teacher. His tests are TOO hard for the information he gives you. His midterm was 3 days long, and it was INSANE!! He also grades VERY hard. He always says 'No one does good,' which should tell you how hard his material is. It would be easy stuff to learn if you took it with a different Professor.
My absolute favorite professor at SSU. Yes, I got the worst grade of my life in his class, but the class isn't about the grade you get, but what you learn. More specificly, how you learn, think, and view the world after having a philosophy course. After this class, I'd actually consider being a philosopher (if the pay wasn't so bad.
Meriwether is an interesting and thought-provoking professor, but he is also arrogant, egotistical, and judgmental. He is one of those fundamentalist Christians, and he's not afraid to say it. If your opinion in religion differs from his, you better be able not to fight him in class, because he cannot be wrong.
The lectures weren't too bad, the homework could have been worse, but the papers were awful. He was a nice guy but a very hard grader. I worked so hard on my last paper and got a D in the class. Unless you are really into ethics/philosophy...good luck.
I persoanlly like Dr. Meriwether. I have taken him for philosophy of religion and now for ethics. Both classes were good and thought provoking that ended up with me learning so much. I hightly recomend him though you should be ready because he does make his courses challenging. You will learn very much in one of his classes.
Meriwether is obsessed with thinking students at SSU are slow. If you THINK than you can skip this instructor, his class was nonsense. He deducts for absenses whether you know the material or not, like High School. Do not even attmpt to give an opinion contrary to his, because it is very obvious HE is right. Kiss his butt and you will do OK, maybe.
Dr. Meriwether is by far my favorite professor so far at Shawnee. He's knowledgeable, willing to help, and teaches through interesting discussions. I was in Philosophy of Religion and the texts were hard, the exams were hard, but it was worth it. Attendance is mandatory and he isn't leniant. I still learned more than in my other classes combined.
Overall great class. Survey of ethics from Aristotle to Kant. Professor is always willing to help and tries to get his students to look at issues from all sides. One of my favorite classes at SSU. I disagree with the comments that he tries to impose his religion/view on others, he simply gives his view up front and is receptive of other viewpoints
Tough grader and yes he has his opinions BUT will accept others as well, just be prepaired to explain and reason your beliefs... duh, you are supposed to learn to think and not to accept anything you hear...
hard, boring, but you will learn a lot...he told me i was too intelligent for my major, which was offensive, not a compliment
If you can skip him, do it. Dont even think about sharing, unless yo agree with him. He comes up with off the wall situatuons that could almost never happen to defend what he says. He's right, we're wrong. Horrible horrible class.
Professor Meriwether is a very narrow-minded individual. He preaches Christian Ethics and constantly butchers evolution and other theories that are inconsistent with the Bible in order to make his view seem better. He has published anti-gay works, and is very chauvinistic. Avoid Meriwether, as you will be better off without hearing a word from him.
Those who complain about Meriwether's beliefs are only doing so because they disagree in his religion. I never once felt that he was trying to impose any sort of belief on the class I do agree that he grades VERY hard and expects alot I warn you now that the study questions and tests are absolutely ridiculous, but I have alot of respect for the man
Arrogant, confusing, would not take again. I don't care about the degree of difficulty but the man's ego is something else
While Meriwether is a nice person, he could be more open to differing views. Instead of trying to argue against an opinion, I wish he would listen more. I got a B though which I guess is hard to do with him, I earned his respect by calling him out on a wrong statistic he presented and offered proof. If you disagree, be prepared to back it up!!
Avoid if possible. If you can get Johnson for this class, it would be for the better.
Hate this class. He pretty much pushes his own opinion on to you and is not interesting at all. Makes you do tons of homework no matter what is going on and never goes over it. Exams are easy if you understand what he wants and how he thinks. Avoid if you can.
Meriwether is awesome, just like Johnson. Both Philosophy professors are superb. I have heard a lot of incorrect information about Meriwether, he pushes his own opinion, he's inconsiderate, etc. Not true! Don't attempt to sound smarter than you are in his class and he won't make you seem like a fool. Great clas
Awesome professor, helps you as long as you ask, very knowledgeable and very fun intriguing lectures. You do have to work for your grade but he gives you a lot of chances to do well. Expect to be called on in class, so make sure you did the assignment because he will ask you about it. Very outspoken, discussion based class.
He's an awesome teacher, but he's one of the teachers that say, "Hold on, there's 30 seconds left before class is over". He doesn't try to force his beliefs on you like I was told before. There's tedious assignments and lots of reading, but the lecture is interesting.
He does require A LOT of reading and writing, but I have learned a lot from his class. His teaching method keeps me interested and I will be taking him again.
Dr. Meriwether invites varying opinions, and w hilarious, intelligent, interesting, and clear in explanations. There was a lot of work (but I dont mind, Im used to it), but I found that it helped me grasp the content better. However, you HAVE to keep up with your work, attend every class, and be a decent writerthinker to do well.
Thinks this is the only class you're taking. A lot to read. A lot of homework.
I really enjoyed this class and Dr. Meriwether's lectures were very interesting. He required a lot of reading and we had homework due every class, but it helped me understand the material better. The midterm and final were tough, but if you studied you would be okay. Also, you have to attend almost every class to get points. Very nice prof!
This class is much like a Facebook comments section. A lot of people giving their views on if we should allow abortion and gay marriage and if evolution is real, with the OP(professor) maintaining commentative authority, highlighting and disregarding what he chooses. Do your reading and writing and you will get an A. Speak out when you disagree.
Probably one of the funniest teachers I have had, makes the class very interesting. He gives a lot of reading homework but it is pretty easy to do. He gives a few essays also, but you can do well as long as you have a good comprehension of the subject.
I cannot explain how awful he is in 350 characters. He makes up impossible situations to make himself seem so smart. He never goes over anything relevant. He is offensive and not only when he doesn't agree with you. He is the least ethical ethics professor in the world. Grades more by his opinion than any rubric. Listen Do Not take this professor.
This man is incredibly offensive. Onice Native Americans were brought up and he said that the topic of ethics we were covering did not apply to barbarians. He applies statistics to support his views and will interrupt you after aswing you a question.
Out of the teachers given for an ethics class, he is by far the worst one can have. He holds us, the students, to the same accordance to one of his fancy law students he taught in the past. This class has been made as a pre requisite for law students even though none of the students take this class to pursue law. He will undermine students, beware!
You will learn a lot when you are through with this class. However, this will only be beneficial if u are a philosophy major. He does give good feedback though and cares a lot about his students. Attendance is mandatory, so if you miss a class, it affects your grade. Also, he gives weekly homeworks. It's a lot of reading!!
There are a lot of people who are negative about Prof Meriwether, but I think it's because they want an easy grade and are lazy. I have learned a great deal from him as my professor, and he is passionate about what he teaches.
I respectfully don't understand why his class is a 2000 level class when it should be a 4000 level. Homework and reading material don't have anything to really do with ethics, it's more history based. Classroom rules are extreme for being in college. Treats students like children. College needs to discuss making higher level course.
I'm not really sure why he gets such negative reviews! I learned so much in this class, and can truly say that I completely and totally enjoyed it. I really didn't think that he expected too much out of us. If you do your work, you will pass with ease. I completely recommend taking Meriwether if you want to actually learn the subject matter!
Like many I disagree with the majority of his views. However if you can actually justify your arguments he is more than willing to engage and discuss fairly. Most of his students can't handle someone that disagrees with them, and so he is unfairly labeled as a bigot. Fantastic professor if you actually want to learn, and a great asset to Shawnee.
This is by far the best, inspirational, and life changing class that I have taken in my college career. Dr. Meriwether is a great and caring guy and he respects all views and ideas. If you are lazy and want an easy grade don't take it. If you want to learn something that will change your life forever take it. I would take it again in a heartbeat.
He's great if you aren't lazy.
He is NOT willing to help a student who is requesting it from him. I have tried contacting him through email several times about an issue on his end of blackboard. It is spring break or I would go see him myself. He only said he will consider the issues I am having.
No not take this class for a GEP unless you are interested in philosophy and really want to try. You have to do a reading and answer questions for each class. You can't miss more than two classes and he's a tough grader. I had a high school english professor edit one of my paper and he still took off a merit grade for grammar mistakes...
He is a tough grader. If there are several answers to a test answer and you miss one of the answers then you miss the whole question. You will have homework every night and a lot of it between reading and answering study questions. He is not clear in the answer that he expects you to know.
Very intelligent individual. Came in expecting to learn , which I did. However, I was let down in the end and honestly expected a lot more out of the class. But it wasn't really his fault, it was my own. I did not read the books or anything and I messed that up myself. Advice - if u are going to take the class read the book.
This has been by far THE worst class Ive taken in my college career. The sheer amount of work given is insane, not to mention the quizzes and tests to go along with it. He talks very arrogantly, and treats everyone as if we are children. We were given assigned seats and were told we couldnt even get up to use the restroom. Do NOT take this class.
He is super nice. As long as you do the work you'll be fine.
Instruction is not philosophy, but his conservative religious takes on philosophy.
Many people do have their disagreements with Dr. Meriwether's methods, However, In spite of this fact, I would still recommend Meriwether as a professor, he possesses a profound understanding of the philosophical subject matter he teaches. P.S- Be ready to study, reading and research a lot for this class, essay, and quiz aren't easy by any means.
Expects you to know the material as well as he does. Only 2 absences or your grade drops. Amount of work is insane as well as the way he structures tests. Interrupts people constantly. Expect homework every night as well as quizzes, papers, and tests. EXTREMELY tough grader. Getting an A is next to impossible.
Very talkative.
Awful, awful teacher. He treats you like your a child. You are not allowed to go to the bathroom. His opinion is the only opinion that matters. If you take the 3hr once a week class, he keeps you the full time and THEN some. Expect to do a LOT of useless homework. He also makes you participate in class discussion. DO NOT TAKE HIM. AVOID!!!!
DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!!!!! If you want to be stress this is the person for you. He do not consider how you understand things, his point of view is the only way to go. He gives you homework every week. When you take this class, he will treat it like the only class you are taking.
This professor started out fabulous and had a lot to offer in terms of learning. However, midway through the semester it absolutely felt like he stopped caring and rambled on and on, held the class WAY PAST the designated time and treated the class as if this class was the only one we had. Definitely do not take the on- campus version. Avoid!
Great Professor! Very knowledgable and the work load isn't that bad. You only have to read and answer some questions every week. As long as you show up and put some effort in you'll do fine. My only complaint is that he would sometimes let us out of class 5 minutes early.
Good professor overall! Devoted to his job and always welcomes questions! Be prepared for lots of homework and to attend class every session. His essays were challenging for me because I had never written an essay with such detail before!
He is a tough professor but he wants his students to succeed and is always open to helping you, you just have to ask. There is a lot of reading and he is a tough grader but only to prepare you for the real world. He understands things happen and will work with you.
Hands down worst professor I have ever had at shawnee. He's tough, but thats not what makes him bad. He's very very confusing with his feedback. Told me I was doing "excellent" on my outline paper, only to FAIL my final draft after following exactly what he said.
Try his class, you can always drop! He is nothing like everyone says. Yes, he has an opinion; however, he is very open to oppositions. I will take him as a professor again.
Professor Meriwether is a super cool guy. If you show up to class and put effort into your work you wont have any trouble. He makes lectures interesting and has a good personality! Be prepared to do quite a lot of work to get a good grade though. Sometimes he can be overly smart and not make sense.
I am usually open to philosophy and ethics class and really looked forward to this one, but Meriwether is the worst. His grading his horrible and all the quiz answers sound the same. I had this class for half the semester and it was horrible. DO NOT RECOMMEND !
Professor Meriwether only ever seemed fair to me when I agreed with his point of view. Challenging him was met with extreme pushback. I had the sense he was unfair to me when he graded when he learned I argued against almost every viewpoint he had us talk about, from religion to same sex marriage. If you have the option to, take someone else.
Overall he is a good professor, and the class is not too bad. Although the Term Paper is by far the most challenging assignment. Your representation of the argument/ counter-arguments had better be accurate, detailed, and precise if you want to get a good grade on it. I would recommend spending at least two weeks perfecting the paper.
Very hard grader.
Very difficult to understand and everything is based off of opinions. Meriwether is very general and does not provide any useful feedback on assignments or tests, had to email him many times just to understand what I did wrong on my assignments. Tough and sketchy grading that does not make much sense at all.
I thought taking this class online would be worth it I enjoy the thoughts behind ethics and am obviously aware that everyone comes from different back grounds. However this class online is ridiculous. Avoid at all costs does not provide insight on what you can improve on just vague
Expectedly tough course but learned a lot from him. One of the best professors I've had yet. Grades tough but thorough and will learn more in one of his classes than any other. Great professor!
How can you run a class on ethics and while having no ethical moral code besides seeing god from his head up his ass. Terrible prof, no not take, shouldn't even be working here anymore.
Meriwether is not as bad as the reviews suggest. He does require a lot of reading & homework is a little time-consuming, but not difficult to manage. He encouraged us to make objections. Grades were fair, tests were difficult but doable, offered extra credit opportunities. As long as you make corrections he suggests, you will do fine on the paper.
He is not as bad as some of the reviews say, but he is not exactly a peach either. If you are looking for an easy A, you will not get it. He makes you earn your grade and requires a lot of reading. He is typically very condescending. But you can deal with him for 7 weeks. Just know that he is not the type of professor that makes you love learning.
I went in ready to disagree with him as a person, but respect him as a professor. However, he constantly taught mainly Christian viewpoints and said he could “prove god exists” to us. Then asked at the end of the semester if he made us republicans. Who does that to students?? Seriously.
He shows a clear bias for his beliefs and philosophy. In what was supposed to be an overview of many different ethical frameworks, the majority of class devoted to why we should all be Christian, with little arguments against that. He is unable to separate his personal views from his work, which is important in a class such as this.
I understand both sides of the Meriweather argument. Harsh grader and confusing feedback for sure. You can't skip class and expect to pass at all, also make sure you're reading everything he assigns and don't slack...EVER. He does insert an immense amount of his personal beliefs into the class which you will 100% notice once you get deeper.
This guy is disrespectful to anyone that doesn't fit his version of what a student should be.
Overall as long as you allow optimal time for the work and reading it's not difficult. The main difficulty is that he doesn't post some content you need so you have to email him so he posts it. He grades pretty strictly. A nice guy but expects a lot out of his students.
This professor is old-fashioned, banning laptops, iPads and phones from class. Expects you to take notes on notebook only. He assumes non-U.S. students know no English and expects preschool-level assignments, accusing your assignment to be written by AI if the words are too complex. He's the worst professor I've had at Shawnee State.
Meriwether did not adequately prepare students for quizzes and exams. He is a very interesting person to encourage class debates with political issues, but 9 times out of 10 the political discussions outweighed any discussions of philosophy. The tests were difficult and more confusing than the lecture led the material to be.
This man is an absolute joke. He teaches an Ethics course from the perspective of a conservative Christian. You know, real ethical like. If you don't agree with his opinions, no matter how well-written your argument is, he will try to fail you. This was an unavoidable class to graduate at the time I took the course.
An actual self-professed white Christian nationalist. Claims to be an ethics professor, but I wouldn't tell him where Anne Frank was hiding if I knew. This is the face of modern facism.
This guy should be at a Christian college with how much his beliefs interfere with what he is supposed to be teaching. I dropped the class and took the other teacher that taught ethics. Now that fellow can teach a excellent class.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
96%
Textbook Required
20%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.88 avg changeRatings by Course
10
5.0
(1)3360
5.0
(1)PHIL200
5.0
(1)PHIL3200
4.5
(2)PHIL320
4.1
(7)Difficulty by Course
PHILOSOPHY200
5.0
PHILALL
5.0
PHIL2000
5.0
INTROTOPHIL
5.0
PHIL2320-90
5.0