John Basl is a Philosophy professor at Northeastern University rated 4.16/5 by 404 students, with 3.89/5 difficulty and 79.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
John Basl professor reviews and ratings: 4.16/5 from 404 student reviews at Northeastern (79.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
hes a great guy and clearly knows a lot about philosophy, but his expectations are ridiculously for a 1000 level course. theres short writings which are good once you get the hang of them, but are impossible to have an average of an A on even with thorough writing the first few times. the final is basically made to drop your grade, but good guy.PHIL1145 2025-12-18 04:45:55 +0000 UTC
Although I received a good grade in this class, he was very rude and had a large ego. He graded very unfairly. I changed my major after suffering greatly.PHIL3435 2025-04-17 19:55:27 +0000 UTC
Took this class online over the summer. He is for sure a hard but fair grader but I learned so much. There was a reading quiz after each reading and a few short writings along with a final paper.PHIL1102 2022-01-25 19:46:24 +0000 UTC
Awesome prof. I feel so lucky that I got to take his class as one of my first in college. I learned so much through his class even tho it was online. He was always available for extra help and really cared that I learned or expanded my perspective on the material. He is a really great person overall too. Highly recommend.PHIL1195 2021-12-21 05:34:22 +0000 UTC
Mr. Basl is an outstanding human and philosopher. 10/10 recommend every time.PHIL1165 2020-07-05 05:05:57 +0000 UTC
Class was mostly graded off of papers. John is a tough grader but gives you a ton of opportunities to work with him directly, get extra credit, and receive very detailed feedback. However, you do need to be both a hard worker AND a critical thinker. The material is very thought provoking and morally developing. (John's not bad to look at, either)PHIL1180 2015-07-07 10:19:17 +0000 UTC
John is my favorite professor I had this semester. You're expected to read the papers he assigns and discuss them in class. He is a tough grader on the short writing assignments, but offers a lot of incentives that boost your grade a ton. He is super engaging and accessible outside of class. John is genuinely such a great professor.PHIL1145 2025-11-24 22:23:47 +0000 UTC
Although his lectures were super interesting and organized, he grades SO harshly. No matter what I tried or how much effort I put in I would get a bad grade. He also came across as pompous, arrogant, and unhelpful whenever I tried to get extra help. Overall, I constantly felt very discouraged in this class, even though i tried my best.PHIL3435 2025-04-17 19:50:37 +0000 UTC
This is one of the only classes for NUPath that I struggled in but thoroughly enjoyed. You get what you put into the class. He is definitely a hard, but fair grader. I loved the class so much I didn't tunnel vision on getting an A. Definitely talk to him outside of class to get a grasp of what the class is like!PHIL1102 2019-07-01 00:14:12 +0000 UTC
Professor was very understanding, learned a lot about research ethics. I would definitely recommend for an online class satisfying ethical reasoning NUPATH requirements.PHIL1195 2019-04-14 19:00:50 +0000 UTC
Amazing guy, great lectures. Very accessible outside of class, very effective at answering questions and giving advice. Really tough essay grader, but he warns you about that from the outset, follows a strict rubric (that he gives you beforehand) gives lots of examples and tons of great feedback.PHIL1165 2019-01-30 16:12:19 +0000 UTC
Great professor but a tough grader. Class isn't for someone looking to coast, but perfect for the student with an interest in philosophyenvironmental studies hoping to develop writing and critical thinking skills. Professor is very willing to work with you and is usually available to answer your questions.PHIL1180 2015-04-22 19:31:43 +0000 UTC
John is an amazing professor. He is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about technology ethics, and he always made classes engaging. He is a tough but fair grader and provides many grade incentives/ boosts. He is always accessible outside of class and provides a lot of feedback on writing assignments, which helped me improve.PHIL1145 2025-04-27 04:13:50 +0000 UTC
I've taken a few classes with Prof Basl - He's a great professor, but you will have to keep up your side of the deal if you want to do well. If you don't read the texts precisely, or listen attentively in class, you're probably not going to do well in his class (or in any philosophy class tbh). This was the hardest PHIL class of the 8 I've taken.PHIL3435 2019-08-20 14:52:56 +0000 UTC
John is an excellent professor who clearly cares about his student's success. He is a tough grader, but definitely fair. His feedback on papers was the best I have gotten anywhere, and he is willing to elaborate if you need clarification. I took the class for an easy A, which it wasn't, but definitely came out better at articulating my views.PHIL1102 2018-08-26 17:09:41 +0000 UTC
John Basl has an average rating of 4.16/5 from 404 student reviews. 79.0% of students said they would take them again.
John Basl's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.89/5 based on student reviews.
John Basl has taught PHIL1145, PHSC5212, PHIL3435, PHIL5010, PHSC6213, PHIL4901, PHIL1102, PHIL1195, PHSC6212, PHIL1000, PHIL1165, HONR3310 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.