Download RELI 633 - Office of the Provost

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George Mason University
Graduate Course Approval/Inventory Form
Please complete this form and attach a copy of the syllabus for new courses. Forward it as an email
attachment to the Secretary of the Graduate Council. A printed copy of the form with signatures should be
brought to the Graduate Council Meeting. Complete the Coordinator Form on page 2, if changes in this
course will affect other units.
Please indicate: ___X___ NEW
Local Unit: Religious Studies
____ MODIFY
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Course Abbreviation: RELI
Course Number: 633
Full Course Title: Ethical Perspectives of World Religions
Abbreviated Course Title (24 characters max.): Ethical Perspectives of
Credit hours:
3
Program of Record: RELI 633
Repeatable for Credit? _D
D=Yes, not within same term
___ T=Yes, within the same term
__ N=Cannot be repeated for credit
Activity Code (please indicate):
___ Studio (STU)
____ Seminar (SEM)
LEC Lecture (LEC)
___ Internship (INT)
Catalog Credit Format 3 :3 :0
Up to 9 hours
Up to hours
___ Lab (LAB) ___ Recitation (RCT)
___ Independent Study (IND)
Course Level: GF(500-600) _X__ GA(700+) ____
Maximum Enrollment: 20
For NEW courses, first term to be offered: Fall
2005
Prerequisites or corequisistes: Graduate Standing or permission of instructor
Catalog Description (35 words or less) Please use catalog format and attach a copy of the syllabus for
new courses.: Examination of how perceptions of ultimate reality shape the ethical values and behaviors of
various religious traditions. Problems in interpretation of authoritative foundational teachings in
contemporary contexts will be addressed. Special attention is given to non-western religions.
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________________________________ Date: _________________
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Religion 633
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ETHICS IN BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE
Sample Syllabus Prepared by Dr. Cuong T. Nguyen
Course Description
The ultimate goal of the Buddhist path is to attain bodhi or enlightenment. This path is based on the threetier structure of the Buddist training that includes sila (ethics), samadhi (meditation) and prajna (wisdom).
Modern study of Buddhism thus far has focused mainly on its intellectual and meditative aspects. A
scholarly study of Buddhist sila as an autonomous subject is an emergent field. This course investigates
ethics as an integral part of the Buddhist path. It explores the role of ethics within the context of Buddhist
psychology (samdhi) and soteriology (prajna) in both Theravada and Mahayana traditions, ancient and
modern. The course pays special attention to the non-duality of ethics (sila), meditation (samdhi) and
wisdom (prajna). It also explores fundamental questions such as Why acrt morally? The relations between
ethics and the notion of personality and causal connectedness; enlightenment and social ethics, and so forth.
Course Goals
*To help students understand how insights into ultimate reality shape a religious tradition’s ethical values
and behaviors.
*To demonstrate how believers the Buddhists draw on the authoritative but temporally and culturally
limited foundational teachings to develop responsese to ethical issues of their own cultural and temporal
context.
*To help students understand Buddhist attitute towards various aspects of ethics in comparison to
alternative ethical views.
*Since the goal of the course is not limited to an understanding of Buddhist meta-ethics, it encourages
students to reflect sensibly and creatively on social and moral issues they encounter on daily life such as
violence, war, abortion, euthanasia, and so forth, and to obtain a good understanding of how people from
the Buddhist traditions form their attitudes towards and treatments of the same issues.
Required Texts:
Primary sources:
Bikkhu Bodhi, ed. In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon
Batchelor, Stephen, transl., Nagarjuna’s Verses from the Center
Crosby, Kate, transl., Santideva’s Bodhicaryavatara
Glenn Wallis, transl. The Dhammapada
Secondary sources:
Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics
Damien Keown, The Nature of Buddhist Ethics
Damian Keown, Contemporary Buddhist Ethics
Sourcebook (a selection of readings from various sources, primary and secondary)
Recommended Texts:
Charles Wei-hsun Fu, Buddhist Ethics and Modern Society
Simon James, Zen Buddhism and Environmental Ethics
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Philip Kapleau, To Cherish all Life
Damien Keown, Buddhism and Abortion
Kilbinger, Kristin Beise, Buddhist Inclusivism: Attitudes Towards Religious Others
The Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millenium
Course Requirements
Regular Attendance. Classes will be part lecture, part discussion. Students are expected to come to class
having completed the reading for that week ready to participate in class discussion. Class discussion will
often range beyond the reading assignment.
Papers and Examinations:
A research paper on the nature of Buddhist ethics in a cross-cultural context (30%).
A research paper discussing the Buddhist attitude toward and response to a particular ethical issue
(30%)
A take-home Final Examination (40%)
Students will be graded on their ability to gather, utilize, and analyze information, to write logically,
intelligently, and to offer reasoned judgements and conclusions. Writing assessment criteria established by
Religious Studies Faculty will be used.
OUTLINE OF COURSE:
Week 1
[Main theme: Investigate the Buddhist insight into the human condition, the origin of humanity]
The Human Condition
Bodhi, 1-43 (primary source); Harvey, 8-60.
Week 2
[Main theme: Buddhist ethics as an alternative to “scriptural ethics” of Hinduism]
An overview of ethics and background of Buddhist ethics
Harvey, 1-61; The Dhammapada, 3-85.
Week 3
[Main theme: Sila (ethics) as an integral part of the three-tier Buddhist path]
Sila (ethics) and Samadhi (meditation) and Prajna (Wisdom)
Bodhi, 257-369 (primary source); Dreyfuss, “Meditation as an Ethical Act” (Sourcebook, 25
pages), Stephen Young, “Buddhist Meditation” (Sourebook, 10 pages).
Week 4
[Main theme: Explore in depth the notion of karma (free will) and moral choice]
Why Act Morally?
Karma, Free Will as Moral Choice
Sourcebook (Various essays, 122 pages)
Week 5
[Main theme: Investigate the Buddhist view that ethical behavior is part of the human psyche]
Aspects of Sila;
Ethics and Psychology
Keown, 25-105.The Non-duality of Sila and Prajna:
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Week 6
[Main theme: Investigate the relationship between ethical behavior and soteriological attainment]
Morality and Salvific Power
Ethics and Soteriology
Keown, 107-129; Bodhi, 301-372 (primary source)
Week 7
[Main theme: Study the development of ethical evolution within the Buddhist tradition form
Theravada to Mahayana]
Alternatives within Buddhist Ethics:
Mahayana Emphases and Adaptations
Harvey, 123-149; Keown, 129-165.
Week 8
[Main theme: Investigate the concept of non self, interconnectedness and moral responsibility. Is
“the view of the universe” possible?]
Personality, causality and the Bodhisattva’s ethics:
Anatman (selflessness), pratityasamutpada (causal inter-connectedness) and ethics
Batchelor, 2-152 (primary source)
Week 9
[Main theme: A thorough analysis of the Mahayana ethical universalism]
Aspects of the Bodhisattva’s Ethics
Crosby, 2-143 (primary sources)
Week 10
[ Weeks 10 – 14. These weeks deal with some of the main practical ethical issues. Buddhist
ethics, however, is never about simply following injunctions. The main theme will be a careful
analysis of the Sigalovada (a text that has been considered the foundation of Buddhist social
ethics) and the ethical reasoning regarding attitude toward and treatment of these issues]
Buddhist Social Ethics:
The Sigalovada-Sutta (sourcebook); Dharmasiri, (sourcebook, 23 pages)
War and Peace
Harvey, 187-238; 239-285.
Week 11
Buddhism and Human Rights & Animal Rights
Keown (Sourcebook, 56 pages); Shabkar (sourcebook, 30 pages).
Week 12
Sexual Equality; Homosexuality
Harvey, 353-434.
Week 13
Suicide and Euthanasia
Harvey, 286-311.
Keown (Contemporary), 169-82.
Week 14
Abortion and Contraception
Harvey, 311-352.
Keown (Contemporary), 137-68.
Week 15
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[Main theme: Reflection on the current academic study of Buddhist ethics; a comparative study of
Buddhist ethics and utilitarianism and Aristotelian ethics, the two ethic systems that are considered
to be closest to Buddhist ethics]
Reflection on the study of Buddhist Ethics
Buddhist ethics, utilitarianism, Aristotelian ethics
Keown, 1-25; 165-261