Non-Western Religions (Phil. 120)
MWF: 10:00-10:50 (LW 329)
T, Th: 11:00-11:50 (MC 154)
Instructor: Dr. Darrell Arnold
Office: Psych 165
Tel. 2620
Office Hours: T, Th 9:45 - 10:45; M, W, F 11:00 - 12:00
Course Description: Given the developments of globalization, expressed, for example, in the increased trade with India, China, and various other countries of the world, and the increased need for cooperative work to address common political concerns such as global warming and global terrorism, an understanding of the diverse cultures of the world is now more pertinent than ever. Fundamental here is also an understanding of the basic value systems of the cultures, as idealized in their ethical frameworks and religions.
This course is an introduction to the various major world religions, excepting Judaism and Christianity. The course will begin with an overview of theories of religion. Are the various world religions merely different, but all more or less effective inroads to a genuine religious experience, as William James thinks? Are they functional elements of cultural systems that provide a society with a useful mechanism for generating cooperation among its members as Èmile Durkheim argues? Or are they all in their own way illusions, as Freud and Marx maintained, hindering individual and/or social development? While such questions will be raised in the course, the focus here is not on the theories about religion, but on the beliefs and practices of the dominant non-Western world religions. Though various smaller religions such as Sikhism and Jainism will be covered, the emphasis is especially on the major living religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Islam. As far as possible, these will be examined with reference to their respective socio-historical contexts, thus enabling the study of these religions to serve as something of a vista to the world’s main cultures. Each of these major religions is a long, multifaceted tradition, with divergent tendencies and at times even contradictory movements. As they have developed historically, they have of course affected the development of the societies of which they are part, but they have also changed and adapted to various elements within those societies. This course will introduce the student to those developments and so to these religions as dynamic systems.
Objectives: The students should learn the basic beliefs and practices of the religions studied and develop a sensitivity to their socio-historical developments. They should also gain an acquaintance with some of the major methodological views of religious studies and the philosophy of religion. In addition, this course will help students improve their writing and learning skills, as well as their critical thinking skills.
Course work: Regular reading is expected. There will be regular quizzes. In addition, “notebooks” with answers to essay questions are to be turned in five times during the semester. Each of these are to be 2-3 pages (600-900 words) in length (so cumulatively 10-16 pages). One 3-4 page paper (750-1100 words) is also due, and a short presentation of the results is to be made in class. There will be a final exam, consisting largely of essay questions.
Grading: Quizzes (20% cumulatively). Notebooks (35% cumulatively). Exam (30%). Paper, with presentation (10%). Class participation (5%). Writing assignments that are too short will be graded with an F. Academic dishonesty will be penalized, and may result in your failing the course.
Texts: Lewis M. Hopfe and Mark R. Woodward, Religions of the World (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007).
The text has two companion websites:
(1) one is for varied additional information;
(2) the other is the companion site for quizzes.
Readings on the theoreticians of religion dealt with in the first two weeks of the course are linked below. In addition, online versions of the sacred texts of world religions are available at http://www.sacred-texts.com/world.htm. Further recommended reading: Daniel L. Pals, Eight Theories of Religion (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006). Arvind Sharma, ed., Our Religions (New York: Harper, 1993).
Students with Disabilities: This university abides by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which stipulates that no students shall be denied the benefits of an education solely by reason of a handicap. If you have a documented disability that may impact your work in this class and for which you may require accommodations, please see the instructor to make arrangements. In order to receive accommodations, you must be registered with and provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Services Office, which is located in the Psychology Building, Room 232.
Readings
Readings: MWF
Readings: TTh
Notebooks and Paper Assignment
Notebooks
Paper assignment
PDF Documents for the course
Free Adobe ReaderIntroduction, William James, Mircea Eliade
E. B. Tylor and James Frazer
Freud and Marx
Durkheim and Weber
Ethnomethodology
Basic Religions
Hinduism: Pre-Vedic India
Hinduism
Jainism
Buddhism
Relgions of China
Islam
Related Audio and Video Content
An Audio and Text Version of the Bhagavad Gita
Hinduism
Pure Land Buddhist Art
Abbot, Toronto Zen Center
Film Segement, Tibetan Book of the Dead
History of China
Zen Buddhism
Buddhism
The Three Teachings of Chinese Thought: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism
Taoism
Prof. Delumeau on Taoism
Confucius
Houston Smith on Confucianism
On the Spread of Islam in Spain: BBC Film
PBS Documentary. Islam: Empire of Faith, Part I. (Parts 2 and 3 also available at this site.)
On Zoroastrianism: BBC Video Clip
Houston Smith: Why Religion Matters
General Links for Religions and Religious Texts
BBC Site on World Relgions and Ethics
Religious Texts (Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, The Analytics, Tao Te Ching, Koran and others)
Religious Texts from Marcea Eliade's "From Primitives to Zen"
Some Classical Statements on Religious Theory
William James' Varieties of Religious Experience. (Check especially Lecture XX)
James Frazer's The Golden Bough (Concluding Chapter): On Magic, Relgion and Science
Quote from Frued's The Future of an Illusion, Excerpts from Totem and Taboo
Excerpts from Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Marx on Religion: From Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
Max Weber: Sociology of the World Religions
Arnold Toynbee: Statement of Inlcusivism