MAHACHULA BUDDHIST UNIVERSITY COURSE OUTLINE

(Nov-Feb on Thursday 12.30 14.10 pm.)

DEPARTMENT OF BUDDHIST STUDIES (INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM)

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1. 2. Course Code/Name: 000 106 : INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY Credits: 2 (2-0-4) Semester: 2 Academic Year: 2011 Course Description: The course is an introduction to philosophy, emphasizing the meanings and scope of philosophy, the relationships between philosophy, religion and science, the classification and the fundamental concepts of philosophy together with the development of Western and Eastern philosophical traditions. Objectives: Academic Objective: 3.1. To enable students to understand the definition and scope of philosophy and to be able to communicate that understanding. 3.2. To enable students to understand the concepts and the evolution of philosophy, including the relationship of philosophy to other branches of science. 3.3. To enable students to understand and appreciate the principles of the various branches of philosophy, such as Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics. 3.4. To enable students to understand that philosophy, as the mother of sciences, has an important influence on other branches of science. Moral Objectives: 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. Students should acquire an understanding of the role of philosophy in the development of ideas and the formation of a worldview. Students should be able to think logically in problem solving, being able to proceed rationally from one step to anther, evaluation evidence without prejudice. Students should be able to apply the various conceptual methods of philosophy in their lives, being rational, tolerant and willing to listen to the views of others.

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4. Course Contents 4.1. Overview of philosophy 4.1.1. Introduction 4.1.2. The meaning of philosophy as derived from the etymology of the word. 4.1.3. The definition of prajna according to the views of individual philosophers. 4.1.4. The characteristics and functions of philosophy. 4.1.5. The scope and branches of philosophy. 4.1.6. The birth and evolution of philosophy. 4.1.7. The relationship between philosophy and other disciplines. 4.1.8. Philosophy and religion 4.1.9. Philosophy and science.

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4.2. Metaphysics and Ontology 4.2.1. The meaning, characteristics, scope and function of metaphysics, including materialism, idealism, theology, and absolutism. 4.2.2. The metaphysical theories of various philosophers from ancient, medieval and modern times to the present day. 4.3. Epistemology 4.3.1. The meaning characteristics, functions, and scope of epistemology. 4.3.2. Epistemological theories (theories of knowledge) the characteristics of knowledge, sources of true knowledge (justification of knowledge) and truth. 4.3.3. Epistemological theories of different philosophers from ancient times to the present day, including empiricism, rationalism and intuitionism. 4.4. Ethics 4.4.1. The meaning, characteristics, functions, and scope of ethics and its implications for other branches of philosophy. 4.4.2. The ethical theories of various philosophers. 4.5. Eastern Philosophy 4.5.1. The meaning and general characteristics of Indian philosophy. 1) The evolution of asatika and nasatika. 2) The six divisions of Asatika. 3) Nasatika. 4.5.2. Chinese Philosophy 1) The general characteristics and development of Chinese philosophy. 2) The movements in Chinese philosophy, such as Taoism, Confucius and Mencious, Mo tze. 4.5.3. Japanes Philosophy of shinto 1) The general characteristics and evolution of Japanese philosophy. 2) An overviews of metaphysics and ethics. 4.6. Western Philosophy 4.6.1. Ancient Greek Philosophy 4.6.2. Medieval Western Philosophy 4.6.3. Modern Western Philosophy 4.6.4. Contemporary Western Philosophy 5. Topics for Presentation in Class (History of Philosophy by William S. Sahakian) 1. The problem of matter --- the Milesians 1.1. ThalesWater Element (Seminar= S 1) by1. Ashin Suriya 1.2. Anaximenes Air Elements (S 2) by 2. Ashin Sodhana 2. The problem of identity and change 2.1. Heraclitus Fire Element (S 3) by3. ven. nyanissara 2.2. Parmenides Being (S 4) by 4. ven. Uttamananada sraman 2.3. Zenos Dialectics or Paradox (S 5) by 5.ashin indaka 2.4. Empedocles Four Elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth (S 6)by 6.ashin wappa seang shai 2.5. Anaxagoras (S 7) by 7.ashin nanninda 2.6. Democritus (S 8) by 8.ashin pandita 2.7. Te Pythagoreans (S 9) by 9.ashin obasa 3. The problem of man: from the Sophists to Plato 3.1. The Sophists: Protagoras (S.10) by10. ven.

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3.2. Socrates (S 11) by11. u dhammissara 3.3. The lesser Socratics: Stoicism (S 12)by 12.ven. osadha 3.4. The lesser Socratics : Hedonism (S 13)by13. u visittha 3.5. The lesser Socratics : Epicureanism (S14) by14. ashin sunanda 3.6. The lesser Socratics : Skepticism (S 15)by 15.asgiriye seelananda 4. Systematic philosophy: Plato and Aristotle 4.1. Plato (S16) by ven. Hseng soi pannavamsa 4.2. Aristotle (S 17) by ven. Huynh quoc tuan 5. The religious problem 5.1. St. Augustine (S 18) by ashin tikkhanyana 6. Scholasticism 6.1. St. Thomas Aquinas (S 19) by ukavi dhaja 7. Renaissance philosophy 7.1. Niccolo Machiavelli (S 20) by ashin vanna 7.2. Francis Bacon (S 21) by ven. tissa 7.3. Thomas Hobbes (S 22) by ven. kundata 7.4. Natural Law and Philosophy of Science (S 23)by ven. kulisa 8. The continental rationalists 8.1. Descartes ( S 24) by ven.u nanissara 8.2. Spinoza (S 25) by mr. aik loung hseng 8.3. Gottfried Willhelm Leibniz (S 26)by mr. aik laik 9. The British Empiricists 9.1. John Locke (S 27) by mr. sai hseng 9.2. George Berkeley (S 28) by ven. idamiczu 9.3. David Hume (S 29) by ven. sandasara 10. The German Idealists 10.1. Kant ( S 30) by ven. sirinda 10.2. Fichte (S 31) by ven. adiccavamsa 10.3. Hegel (S 32) by ven. Khanti wara 10.4. Arthur Schopenhauer (S 33)by ven. revata 11. British Utilitarianism 11.1. Jeremy Bentham (S 34)by ven. Le huu phuoc 11.2. John Stuart Mill (S 35)by uo bhasa 12. Evolutionary Naturalism 12.1. Darwin (S 36) by ven. manitacara 12.2. Friedrich Nietzsche (S 37)by ven. Pai chiming marma 12.3. Henri Bergson (S 38) by ven. Sai kyaw leng kosalla 12.4. Samuel Alexander (S 39)by ashin suvanna 13. Classical Positivism 13.1. Comtes Positivism (S 40)by ven. Tran quang thai 14. Dialectical Materialsism 14.1. Marx and the Marxists (S 41)by bhikkhuni nguyen thi thanh phuong 14.2. Mao Tsh-tung (S 42)by by bhikkhuni zhang bing 15. Pragmatism 15.1. Charles Sanders Peirce (S 43)by ashin pannyavara 15.2. William James (S 44) by ashin kovida 15.3. John Dewey (S 45) by ven. Kim ma cha ra 16. Idealism and Personalism

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16.1. Personalism ( S 46) by u vicittasara (lao heing sai) 16.2. Absolute Idealism (S 47) by ven. Kesingto chakma 17. Neorealism and Critical Realism 17.1. American Neo-Realism (S 48)by ven. Khoeut bunna 17.2. British New-Realism (S 49) 18. Logical Positivism 18.1. Alfred Jules Ayer (S 50) 18.2. Moritz Schlick (S 51) 19. Analytic philosophy 19.1. Cambridge Philosophy (S 52) 19.2. Oxford Philosophy (S 53) 20. Neo-scholasticism and Neo-Thomism 20.1. Jacques Martain (S 54) 21. Phenomenology 21.1. Edmund Husserl (S 55) 21.2. Maurice Merleau-Ponty (S 56) 22. Existentialism 22.1. Soren Kierkegaard (S 57) 22.2. Martin Heidegger (S 58) 22.3. Jean-Paul Sartre (S 59) 23. Post-Modernism 23.1. Thomas Kuhn (S 60) 23.2. Jacques Derrida (S 61) 23.3. Michel Foucault (S 62) 23.4. Richard Rorty (S 63) 23.5. Jugen Habermas (S 64) 23.6. Jean-Francois Lyotard (S 65) 6. Teaching Methods: 1. Lectures 2. Class presentations. 3. Group Discussions. 7. Teaching Aids/ Materials: 1. Whiteboard 2. Overhead-projector 3. Passages & articles 4. Multimedia: Computer 5. Picture 8. Measurements: 8.1. Accumulated Points 60% 1. Attendance and Participation 10% 2. Presentation in class and tests 20% 3. Assignment, Research paper 10% 4. Mid-term test 20% 8.2. Final test 40% Total 100% 9. Evaluation and Gradation:

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4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0 80-100 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 49-1

A B+ B C+ C D+ D F

10. Texts Books, References and Reading Supplements: 10.1. Main Text Book (s): 1. Sahakian, William S. (1968). History of Philosophy. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. 2. Honer, Stanley, M. et. Al. (2002). Invitation to Philosophy: Issues and Options. Australia: Wadsworth. 3. Koller, John, M. (1984). Oriental Philosophies. New York: Charles Scribners Sons. 4. _______________. (1998). Asian Philosophers. New York: Prentice Hall. 10.2. Reference(s) and Supplement (s): 5. Kirti Bunchua. (2003). Contextual Philosophy. Bangkok: Assumption University. 6. Jordan, Michael. (1997). Eastern Wisdom: The Philosophers and rituals of the East. Dubai: Carton Press. 7. Nigel Warburton. (1995). Philosophy: The Basic. London: Routledge. 5. William S. Sahakian. (1968). History of Philosophy. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. 6. Jeremy Weate. (1998). A Young Persons Guide to Philosophy. London: Dorling Kindersley. 7. Oliver, Martyn. (1997). History of Philosophy. London: Octopus Publishing Group Limited. 8. D.W. Hamlyn. (1990). The Penguin History of Western Philosophy. London: Penguin Books Ltd. 9. G.S. Kirk, J.E. Raven and M. Schofield. (1983). The Presocratic Philosophers. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10. Jonathan Barnes. (1987). Early Greek Philosophy. London: Penguin Books. 11. Antony Flew. (1989). An Introduction to Western Philosophy: Ideas and Argument from Plato to Popper. New York: Thames and Hudson, Inc. 12. Brian Magee. (1987). The Great Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 13. Frederick Copleston. (1961-1974). A History of Philosophy. Garden City: Doubleday & company, Inc. Nine Vols. 14. John Hospers. (1967). An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hsll,Inc. 15. Roger Scruton. (1984). A Short History of Modern Philosophy: From Descartes to Wittgenstein. London: ARK Paperbacks. 16.Samuel E. Stumpf. (1983). Philosophy: History and Problems. Singapore: McGrawHill,Inc.

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N.B.: For the original sources, I will take some certain passages from certain books written by philosophers and give them to you in class. 11. Instructor Dr. Veerachart Nimanong Pali VI, Dip. In Ed., B.A., B.Ed., M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Graduate School of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Assumption University (ABAC), Ramkhamhaeng, Hua-Mak, Bangkapi, Bangkok Thailand: Tel. 300-4543-62 Ext. 1325. Fax: 7191521. Email: vnimanong@yahoo.com, Websites: www.veerachart.au.edu, www.philo-religion.au.edu, www.au.edu, Home: 62/73, Phrayasurendr 24, Bang Chan, Klong Sam Wa, Bangkok 10510. Tel. 086 515 2891

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