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Religions of the East Jeffrey Grupp, Purdue University, Northcentral Jgrupp@pnc.edu www.AbstractAtom.com
Class Overview: I view this class as one of the most important classes offered at the university. This is because this class is about the study of reality as-a-whole, which very few other classes offer. Most of our reading will be assigned for the latter 2/3 of the class. This is a writing intensive class, where I will teach you about good writing, and I will expect you to perform well and improve on your writing abilities this semester. This class is titled “RELIGIONS of the East.” For that reason, I will treat this as a religion class, where I will openly discuss aspects of culture, and meditation (religious practice and technique). I have chosen the books that I have in this class based on this plan.
Class reading: 1. Philosophies of India, Heinrich Zimmer, Princeton U . Press. ISBN-10: 0691017581 ISBN-13: 978-0691017587 2. "Mereological Nihilism", Jeffrey Grupp, Axiomathes, 2007, go to www.abstractatom.com for the article (click ‘cv’ and scroll down to “Mereological Nihilism”) 2. Buddhist Psychology, Padmasiri de Silva, Palgrave Macmillian, ISBN-10: 1403992452 ISBN-13: 978-1403992451 3. Zen and the Psychology of Transformation, Hubert Benoit, Inner Traditions Press, ISBN-10: 0892812729 ISBN-13: 978-0892812721 4. Bushido: The Way of the Samurai (Square One Classics) (Paperback), Tsunetomo Yamamoto; Square One Publishers, Tra edition; ISBN-10: 0757000266 ISBN-13: 978-0757000263 Films We will make a serious attempt to help to understand the material of the class by using short clips of interesting films in the class in order to illustrate ideas in Buddhist philosophy. Some of the films we might watch part of include: KPAX Solaris The Truman Show Lost Highway Fight Club Sling Blade Lost in Translation The Star Wars Films (esp. Empire Strikes Back, The Clone Wars [vol. 1], Revenge of the Sith) Powder The Matrix films Siddhartha Little Buddha Office Hours: Office hours are held in Schwarz 211 from 645-745 M and W evening. . Tentative Class Schedule First month (Aug 1 – Sept 29): Topics: Introduction to Eastern Philosophy Reading: Handout given first day of class, entitled "Introduction to Eastern Philosophy" Second month (Oct 1 - 23): Topics: Indian Religion, Sankhya, yoga, Upanishads, Advaita Vedanta, Brahmanism, Gandhi Reading: Zimmer, from pages between 280-320, 323, 333-460 (third week); 181-279 (fourth week) Oct 27 – Nov10: Topics: Buddhism in India, Buddhist Psychology, and Buddhist Physics Reading: Zimmer, pages 464-604; de Silva, pages 3-98; Grupp, "Mereological Nihilism," pages TBA Nov 12 – 24: Topics: Toaism, Chinese and Japanese Buddhism: philosophy, meditation, and way of life Reading: Tao Te Ching (handed out in class), Benoit, ch. 1-15
Dec. 1: Film assignment (in class)
Dec. 3 - 10: Philosophy of the Samurai and Karate Reading: Yamamoto, pages TBA TEST/FINAL: HANDED OUT PENULTIMATE WEEK OF CLASS, due last day of finals week at 9 am (will likely be a take-home test). Put it in my mailbox or give it to me in class early. YOU CANNOT EMAIL ME THE FINAL; IF YOU DO, I WILL NOT OPEN YOUR EMAIL. Your film paper (from Dec. 1st film viewing) is due the same time and day as the final (that is, it is due with the final). Grading Scale:
Grading:
Total: 1000 points There are no make-up test, and no make-up quizzes. If you miss a quiz or the final, you must present valid, legitimate documentation proving you were absent for reasons beyond your control. Tests and Quizzes: At the start of every class, we will have a quiz over the lecture and reading from the class before. These quizzes will help you keep up in the class, and will prevent you from forgetting important material needed to grasp the philosophic ideas of the class. The manner in which I will grade the quizzes is as follows. All quizzes are grade as C/NC. At the end of the semester I will drop your lowest quiz. Each quiz is worth 20 points. Please note that if you talk during any of our quizzes through the semester, if you have your notes out, or if you do really anything but stare straight at your own paper, I will freely give you zero credit on a quiz, whenever I feel it is necessary. Also, quizzes are the way I take attendance for the class, so, if come to class and only take the quiz, I will throw that quiz out, if I feel necessary. The final will be all essay. The final exam is cumulative (over all material in the class). It is possible that it will be a take-home test, but that will have to be determined later. Note: I use the quizzes to take your attendance throughout the semester. For that reason, it may be a very good idea for you to keep your quizzes all semester, in case you need them to justify your attendance in the unlikely event that my records indicate you missed a class when you believe that you did not. Writing Intensive Course: This course is writing intensive. This means that there is some emphasis put on teaching you to write well, if you don't already write well. I will tell you exactly what I am looking for in your writing, so you will not have to wonder at all about what I am looking for in good writing. There are several keys to writing well, but in general they all involve you being able to merely get your point across to others. In this class, there are no papers you have to write. Instead, you will have essay tests, where the tests are to be written well. So in addition to knowing the material of the class, you will have to write it out coherently, nicely. I will not be so concerned with spelling errors; I will be mostly concerned with how you organize a piece of your writing, and secondly how you use words. It is important for you to understand that you need not worry much about this writing part of the course. Students often get scared by this, especially if they don’t already have confidence in their writing. When students find out that this class is concerned with your writing, they may feel that they won’t “match up.” But it is important to understand that this writing improvement exercise will be a semi-painless process of my instructing you in improving on your writing skills. In my teaching I have found that whenever I say, “you will be working on your writing this semester,” students shutter in fear, often. But you should offset that by my telling you that I will help you in writing, and I will tell you exactly what I am looking for. Grade Definitions[ A ] Outstanding. Work displays thorough mastery of material and genuine engagement with the subject-matter. This grade is reserved for those students who attain the highest levels of excellence in thought and study. [ B ] Good. Work displays accurate understanding of the material. [ C ] Fair. Work displays basic grasp of material, though there may be the occasional misunderstanding or inaccuracy. [ D ] Marginal. Work displays a grasp of the material adequate for credit, but quality of work indicates lack of effort or aptitude. Tests really quite poor. [ F ] Unacceptable. Excessive absences, assignments not completed, or assignments unworthy of credit. Tests clearly not at the college level. Cheating or plagiarism will earn an automatic F for the assignment and/or the course.
Attendance: Please do not arrive late for class. You are expected to attend all class sessions. Getting a good grade depends on having a good attendance record. An absence will be excused when it is due to an illness that is documented by a doctor’s excuse, or because of a death (documented) in the immediate family. If you try to show me a document that is in any way questionable, I will ignore it. (Questionable documents often include, for example, those which do not have your name on them, even though they are doctor's notes.) If you receive an unexcused absence, the following deduction of points will occur: 1st unexcused absence — 25 points 2nd unexcused absence — 25 points 3rd unexcused absence — 50 points 4th unexcused absence — 100 points 5th unexcused absence —200 points 6th unexcused absence —300 points (These point deductions are cumulative. For example, in the second unexcused absence you have a total of 50 points taken off your total.) On your sixth unexcused absence you will receive a grade of F for the class. Attendance will be taken each lecture meeting. I will take it by seeing who has taken a quiz. If you arrive late and miss the quiz, you must arrive shortly after class begins in order to receive credit for attendance. If you leave after attendance has been taken but before class is complete, this of course is an unexcused absence. I will give you one excused absence (but note that this would make you ineligible for the final exam reward--see below). After that all absences are unexcused unless you show that it should be an excused absence. An excused absence is, for example, documented proof that will inform me that, for example, your pet has died, that a relative has died, that you are very sick. Excuses such as: “my friend was thrown in jail”, “I overslept,” “it was raining,” or “I ran out of gas” are not acceptable. Absences usually reflect that one has a lack of interest to attend lecture meetings; therefore, grades must reflect this. Also, all material that will appear on tests will be thoroughly covered in lectures; it is therefore critical that you not miss class. However, there are reasons that do arise that prevent one from attending lectures. If you have such a reason, you must talk to me about it. In all but the most particular circumstances, any form of undocumented absence is considered an unexcused absence. Adequate documentation for an absence is a legitimate note from, for example, an employer or doctor, that shows it was impossible for you to attend class. That note has your information on it, and theirs. If you show me inadequate documentation for your absence, I will not argue with you about whether or not you have given me adequate documentation. Rather, I will merely leave it up to you to provide me with appropriate documentation. Reward: There will be a small reward for those of you with perfect attendance. Perfect attendance means you have not missed more than a half-hour of a class. Therefore, if you have an excused absence, this means you will not be eligible. The reward is as follows: your lowest grade on the final (with respect to percentage) will be turned into a full-credit answer. Class-time: It is your responsibility to be in class to hear class announcements and information that is needed throughout the semester. Typically information such as this is given at the very start of class, and often it is about things such as test dates and times, the nature of tests, reading assignments, and so on. Films: Films are a very productive way to gain much philosophical knowledge fast and easily, as you will see throughout the semester. You might have to go out and rent the films we discuss, or you can get them at the public library. We will be discussing various philosophical films in the class in significant detail. It may help you to view these films very carefully, more than once if needed, in order to apply your philosophical knowledge you will acquire in the class to these films. The films we will possibly focus on (depending on time) in our class lectures are: The Truman Show, The Matrix, Total Recall, Being John Malcovich, Memento, Leaving Las Vegas, Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Fly, The Cube, Cube2: Hypercube, Lost Highway, eXistenZ, Thin Red Line, among others. Lecture, Discussion, and Questions: The subject matter in this course will generate much discussion. This is welcomed and expected, and you should feel free to take advantage of this as I see it as often the most beneficial and productive part of a student’s learning. If discussion gets too far off track or too drawn out, I will end such discussion that when appropriate. It is very important in a class of this nature that you interrupt lecture or discussion and ask questions every time there is a subject or issue in lecture or discussion that you do not understand. I frown upon those who sit in their seats not understanding the material and yet unwilling to ask for clarification. This usually only leads to frustration during lecture meetings and worse, it usually leads to poor test scores. So it is your responsibility as a student to ask questions as you feel you need to. Students should also note that it is usually the case that, the more basic a question is the better. Therefore, questions such as: What is science? What is God? What is technology? What is nature? Or What is Metaphysics? are extremely important appropriate and welcomed in this class. In summary, this class will teach you not to ask the “right questions,” (i.e., those that are seen as appropriate and ) but to develop an urge within you to ask the questions that you are truly interested in, regardless of who might say it is the right question or the wrong question.
How the class works (the daily experience): I will assign reading before each class (this reading is also on the syllabus schedule above), then I will go over that reading during lecture. I will bring in photocopied notes to you of what you will be responsible for in the reading. For that reason, you will never need to take any notes in class, but you are encouraged to if you need to, if there is anything you need to write down in order to help to understand the material. It is up to you if you want to do the reading before or after lecture.
Important Note: You are responsible for making yourself aware of, and for understanding the policies and procedures in the Undergraduate Catalog that pertain to Academic Integrity. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. You will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with me if you are uncertain about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test.
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