It has been remarked elsewhere that Professor Smith lacks something called personality. Are not ironic detachment and wry grins part of one’s personality, if not the very best part? At any rate, I don’t care one way or the other what sort of personality Dr. Smith brings to his lectures. This class asks you to examine — and to take seriously — the content and the ideas and the texts behind the lectures. If they do not grab hold of the modern American mind, then so much the worse for the modern American mind. This lecture series is what motivated me to, in the twilight of my thirties, to go back to university to earn a second Bachelor’s degree, this time in political science. More importantly, this lecture taught me what it means to be a citizen. If the last lecture in this course — worth listening to in isolation— does not floor you and send you scrambling toward Project Gutenberg for Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy, then the question you should have for yourself is: why not?

I listened to this course recreationally, having read all of the material covered in it over the years. The instructor's delivery is very well structured for consuming the information. This may not seem important, but my background is in math and science where many of the instructors are not teachers. Overall, very good.

this was a very rewarding experience. Thank you Prof Smith. I learned a lot.

1. Loved every lecture 2. Didn't have to take notes and still remembered everything relevant (could've passed the exams with ease) 3. Lack of emotion and him being utterly rigid took a star away from this review 4. The man is obviously very thirsty (he must love coffee). In conclusion, the man is very knowledgeable, but the lack of emotion and personality prevent this course from being PERFECT...

The Course material was incredibly helpful, but I found the professor a little annoying, I think it was that he was hunched over his notes the whole time.

I used this series as I went through a Jr. level university course and found it to be of great help. Each philosopher this professor covers gets about 3 episodes with the first episode giving the audience some sort of context and background and the following episodes covering that philosopher's ideals.