Late Arrivals and Early Departures. Please minimize the number of times you arrive late or leave early. Late arrivals and early departures interrupt the concentration of your fellow students and (I assure you) your professor. If you do arrive late, or must leave early, please be as unobtrusive as possible. Sitting at the back of the room helps in these cases. If you know in advance that you'll be have to leave early, let your professor know before class.

Attendance. We do not take attendance in lectures. You benefit from attending the lectures and discussion section meetings. Yet this class is much more of a team effort than it may appear. Your attentive presence helps us to avoid the situation of a team player who's missed too many practices, and especially helps us to maintain a healthy vigorous team spirit. Help us keep up the momentum throughout the season. (It's worth considering this issue from a purely pecuniary standpoint. Suppose a student enrolls for 12 hours of UIC courses as an Illinois resident in Fall 2000. Then someone—and possibly that very student—is paying $13.33 in tuition and fees for this student's place in each lecture and each discussion section. That figure does not include the very large contribution of Illinois taxpayers and benefactors to the University system.)

Taking Notes. You will find that in this course, taking detailed notes will really help. In philosophy much of the important content is communicated only orally, so you don't want to fall into the trap of writing down only what appears on the blackboard or projection screen. Be sure to get those details. Review your notes carefully before papers and exams.

Grading Standards. We use the full range of grades from A to E. In this class, grades correspond to qualitative descriptions like this:  A = excellent, B = good, C = average or fair, D = poor, E = not entirely without merit, but not passing work for this course. We also assign "slash" grades of the form A/B, B/C, etc. These are halfway between the two whole letter grades. For example, A = 5.0 and B = 4.0, so A/B = 4.5. In my introductory courses the average grade on each paper and exam is between a C and a C+. Papers or exams not completed receive grades of IN, not E. (All work must be completed to pass the course.)

Paper Length. Papers are graded on the basis of quality, not length. Yet there are interesting statistical correlations between length and paper quality. We set the length requirement so that good papers will typically fall in the second half of the length requirement. For instance, if the length requirement is 4 to 6 pages, then papers of less than 5 pages typically omit too much detail and explanation, resulting in a paper of below average quality. Papers below the minimum length omit so much detail they almost never receive a passing grade.

Late Papers. Late papers will be penalized at the rate of a half letter grade per day unless you have arranged for an extension with your instructor before the due date. You can reach Prof. Edelberg at (312) 413-1213 or edelberg@uic.edu. Extensions will be granted only for illness or other factors beyond your control.

Completion of Work. Students must complete both papers and both exams to pass the course. Students who do not complete all work by the end of the semester will receive an E grade for the course, unless the student has previously arranged with the professor to receive an IN grade.

Incomplete Grades. Your instructor follows the policies stated in the UIC Undergraduate Catalog:

The "IN" may be assigned in lieu of a grade only when all of the following conditions are met: (a) the student has been making satisfactory progress in the course; (b) the student is unable to complete all course work due to unusual circumstances that are beyond personal control and are acceptable to the instructor; and (c) the student presents these reasons prior to the time that the final grade roster is due.