Reviews for PHIL209M

Information Review
Fabrizio Cariani
PHIL209M

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/11/2026
I wasn't capable of evocating a review last semester, however now being bestowed the opportunity I shall continue forth. Professor Cariani is a thorough and eloquent individual that encourages open discussion rather than denouncing it, much like his other fairly incompetent predecessors. He certainly ascertains many conjectures and ideologies in class, which conjures a much more inclusive and encouraging environment for all those associated. Of course, as a philosophy teacher, he must be critical of others' ideals inept or not, Professor Cariani provides a descriptive summary on his stance and how it can be improved academically. Unlike other professors, Cariani seems to be indoctrinated in an academically competent environment, which allowed him to accumulated such sophisticated ideologies, many of which I haven't summoned. He is always available for office hours and provides an adequate response to ones inquiries. Regarding the final, he allowed students to reference a one page sheet of paper with notes to leverage during the exam. Out of 9 questions, he chose 3 of which were not necessarily difficult, allowing students an hour+ to write. As long as you show improvement and a willingness to learn the fascination of philosophy, you will be destined toward the righteous path. Of course this must be determined by free will, if it ever existed.
Fabrizio Cariani
PHIL209M

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/25/2026
Overall, Professor Cariani is a great professor that cares for his students and makes sure that they always understand the material he teaches. For every reading, he makes detailed slides (that he also posts on Canvas) that go over everything about it. So even if you don't have enough time to do the reading you can basically understand it from the slides alone, which also came in handy when I stopped doing the readings all together towards the end of the semester. Even during the lectures, he makes sure to stop and ensure that everyone understands the topics or the MANY tangents he can go on during lecture, even when the questions he is asked are no-brainers which got really annoying during class. He is very accessible through his office hours and is open to helping anyone with the essays we have to do during the class or if we want to just talk/debate him on anything. The two times that I went to his office hours he was overly friendly and gave useful notes on how I could improve my submissions. Even if someone cannot make it in-person he also holds Zoom office hours and is very flexible with students. The class is formatted by 3 in-class writings, 3 essays, and a final (that he handpicks from a posted set of questions on Canvas). The in-class writings are really easy where if you demonstrate knowledge on the reading and can actually analyze its arguments then it should be an easy 100. His essays are also generally easy with the only worry being the word count and our commentary on the author's arguments. The only complaint I have for Cariani is that he rarely gave a 100 to ANY student for their essay. He always emphasized that he wants to give us tips to be better at our writing no matter what. At first it seemed annoying, but it was rewarding towards the end where he was happy that I demonstrated improvement based on the notes that he gave me. You are only really impacted by his essay grading if you barely put any effort into your writing. The final was also extremely easy as like I said before, he gives the questions beforehand for us to prepare for, and even giving us an extra credit question which was nice of him. You can tell by his lessons that he is very passionate about AI and is willing to discuss it in any capacity (as long as we have class time). He also tries his best to make sure that nobody fails the class which really shows that he cares for all of his students. I would 100% recommend anyone to take his class as it ended up being my favorite class of the semester
Fabrizio Cariani
PHIL209M

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/12/2026
Y'know what of the first things he did during the semester was complain about his reviews which I found hilarious. Very cool professor, he seems very interested in what he teaches and often likes to go on tangents that can sometimes get hectic very quickly whether that's through him ranting or students debating with each other. He constantly checks to see if everyone understands the paper that we are reading for that day and is completely willing to slow down or break down the content even more than he already does. He makes the papers almost unnecessary to read as he goes through them in complete detail with his slides although reading the papers will make your arguments in the papers/final stronger. He has good availability and is always willing to help you with your paper during office hours or discuss any related topics with you. I remember going twice to his office hours and he was more than willing to talk to me and loved the ideas/counterarguments that we would go back and forth on. If I had to complain, I would say he is a hard grader but he tries his best to help everyone succeed whether that be through offering detailed feedback or giving as many points as he can as decimals (like 4.25/5). The only problem is that rarely any students get full marks on his papers but as long as you show improvement throughout the semester, he will be more lenient. A common complaint he had with my papers was that I always had a neutral tone on the argument and he noted on my last paper how he was proud that I did exactly what he wanted in response to his feedback which was nice. The final is also incredibly easy with 9 questions that are given in advance with 3 of them being chosen by him to be on the final. Overall, great professor and would 100% recommend even if you are not a philosophy major like me.