Facilitator: Richard E. Palmer
Emeritus Professor of
Philosophy and Religion
MacMurray College, Jacksonville, IL 62650
Office: Norris Academic Bldg,
446 East State, Room 402
e-mail address: richard.palmer@mac.edu
Web page: www.mac.edu/faculty/richardpalmer
Spring, 2001
Philosophy 402
Three Great Eastern
Philosophies of Life:
Confucianism, Taoism, and
Zen
Ancient Wisdom, Modern
Applications
Books price
1.
Confucius. The Analects. Trans. Arthur
Waley. Vintage, $ 12.00
2. The I Ching or Book of Changes. Trans. into German by
R. Wilhelm and into English by Cary F. Baynes, forward by
C.G. Jung. 3rd ed. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1967. $
22.50
ISBN
069-109750X.
3. Lao Tzu. The Tao Te Ching. Trans. Stephen Mitchell Harper $ 8.00
Perennial
Library. ISBN 0060812451.
4. Chuang Tzu. The Way of Chuang Tzu. Ed. T. Merton. $ 8.95
New York: New Directions/Norton, 1969.
ISBN 0811201031.
5. Dreher,
Diane. The Tao of Inner Peace. Plume ISBN 045228197 $ 13.50
6. Watts,
Alan. The Way of Zen. New York:
Random, 1965. $ 12.00
ISBN
0375705104.
7. Reps,
Paul. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and $ 12.95
Pre-Zen
Writings. Charles E. Tuttle. ISBN 0804831866.
8. Suzuki,
Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
New York: Weatherhill, 1970, 1988. ISBN 0834800799. $ 7.95
$ 97.85
Assignments and Quizzes
--Unit 1: Classical
Confucian Philosophy
of Life and Nature
1st Week
Jan. 17 W Introduction to the syllabus and to
Confucianism.
Jan. 18 Th In The
Analects of Confucius, read about the following seven key
terms in the Introduction,
(27-44).: Jên, Tao, Tê, Chün-Tzu, Hsiao,
T’ien, Hsin, and about Ritual (54-59),
and Books I & II (83-93).
2nd Week
Jan. 22 M The
Analects, Bks IV, VII, and VIII, pp. 102-106, 123-137.
Jan. 24 W The
Analects, Bks XII, XIII, and XV, pp. 162-179, 193-201.
Jan. 25
Th Quiz #1: Quiz and Essay
on Confucian ideals in The Analects.
Receive
handouts #1 and #2: from Diana F. Hook,The
I Ching
and You
and Naboru Muramoto, Healing Ourselves,
pp. 8-20.
3rd Week
Jan. 29 M Read carefully Handout #1: The
I Ching and You, pp. 1-20.
Lecture
on the 8 trigrams and their associations.
Jan. 31 W Review Handout #1; practice with trigrams and throwing the coins.
Feb. 1 Th Quiz #2: The Eight Trigrams
and how to throw the coins.
4th Week
Feb. 5 M Read carefully Handout #2: Healing Ourselves, pp. 8-20.
Lecture on the Five States of
Change in Chinese cosmology
Feb. 7 W Review handouts #1 and 2 and the 5 states of
change lecture.
Feb. 8 Th Quiz
#3: On the 5 States of Change and their Associations.
Also, begin reading the I Ching, Introduction by R. Wilhelm,
pp. lxvii-lxii and first 4 Hexagrams, pp.
3-24. Bring text to class.
5th Week
Feb. 12 M Review handout A Guide to the I Ching by Carol K. Anthony,
pp. 1-20.
In class, practice in throwing
the coins.
Feb. 14 W Read hexagrams 5-8, 61-64 in the I Ching and/in A Guide.
In class: Work with the 5 states of change
and their associations.
Feb. 15
Th Quiz #4: on I
Ching.
--Unit 2: Taoist Philosophy:
Classical and Applied--
6th Week
Feb. 19 M The
Tao Tê Ching, poems 1-40. Lecture
on basic Taoist concept
Feb. 21 W The Tao
Tê Ching, poems 41-81.
Feb. 22
Th Quiz #5 on Tao Tê
Ching, basic concepts in the poems.
7th Week
Feb. 26 M The
Way of Chuang Tzu, 1st half (emphasize designated readings)
Discussion of the philosophy of The Way of Chuang Tzu and of
the values of Taoist views of nature, ethics, and
aesthetics.
Feb. 28 W The Way
of Chuang Tzu, 2nd half (esp. designated readings)
Mar. 1 Th Paper
on Taoist philosophy in The Way of
Chuang Tzu.
8th Week
Mar. 5 M Dreher, The Tao of Inner Peace, chs. 1-4, pp. xiii-xv, 3-46.
[A
contemporary version of Taoism and social action.]
Mar. 7 W Dreher, The
Tao of Inner Peace, chs. 5-8, pp. 49-91.
Mar. 8 Th Quiz
#6: Dreher, intro. and chs. 1-8: pp. xiii-xv, 3-91
--Spring Break: March 10-18
9th Week
Mar. 19 M Dreher, The
Tao of Inner Peace, chs. 9-12, pp. 92-137.
No class
meeting because I will be on a choir tour, but please
read the
assignment anyway! We will catch up
when I get back.
9th Week (cont.)
Mar. 21 W Dreher, The
Tao of Inner Peace, chs. 13-16, pp. 138-186.
Mar. 22
Th Dreher, The Tao of Inner Peace, chs. 17-20, pp. 187-232.
10th Week
Mar. 26 M
Quiz
#7: Dreher, The Tao of Inner
Peace chs. 9-20, pp. 92-232.
--Unit 3: Zen Philosophy:
Classical Roots and Modern
Applications--
Mar. 28 W Watts, The
Way of Zen, skip ch. 1 and begin with ch. 2.
Mar. 29 Th Watts, The
Way of Zen, skip ch. 3 and read ch. 4.
11th Week
Apr. 2 M Quiz
#8: Watts, The Way of Zen,
chs. 2 and 4.
Apr. 4 W Watts, The
Way of Zen, “Empty and Marvelous,” pp. 115-133.
Apr. 5
Th The Way of Zen, “Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing,” pp. 134-53.
12th Week
Apr. 9 M Read stories 1-50 in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, pp. 17-66.
Apr. 11 W Quiz
#9: Watts,The Way of Zen,
Part II, chs. 1, 2,
and stories 1-50 in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, pp. 17-66.
Apr. 12
Th Reps, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, pp. 66-107, and (10 Bulls) 163-87.
Easter Break: April 13 (Fri)
through April 16 (Mon)
13th Week
Apr. 16 M No class meeting, due to Easter break, but
keep reading! E.g. last
Thursday’s assignment!
Apr. 18 W Watts, “Zazen and the Koan,” in The Way of Zen, pp. 154-173.
Apr. 19 Th Read “The Gateless Gate,” Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, pp. 109-161.
14th Week
Apr. 23 M Quiz
#10: Watts, The Way of Zen,
“Zazen and Koan,” 154-173,
and in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, stories 51-101 in “101 Zen Stories,”
“The Gateless Gate” and “Ten
Bulls,” pp. 66-187.
Apr. 25 W Begin Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, pp. 13-49.
Apr. 26 Th Suzuki, Zen
Mind, Beginner’s Mind, pp. 53-74.
15th Week
Apr. 30 M Quiz
#11: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind,
pp. 13-74.
May 2 W Read Zen
Mind Beginner’s Mind, pp. 75-110.
May 3 Th Read Zen
Mind Beginner’s Mind, pp.110-138.
16th Week
May 7 M Review for final exam. Course evaluations.
Quiz #12. Zen
Mind Beginner’s Mind, pp. 75-138, will be
the first part of the final exam.
May 14 M Final
Examination - 3-5 p.m.
Course Policies
Attendance: Good preparation and attendance are a gesture of respect not only
for the teacher but also for the subject-matter of the course. The weekly
quizzes are structured so that they also contain material covered in class
lecture and not just the assigned reading, so good preparation and attendance
are rewarded. Also, a general
“participation” rating, which includes your attitude and general level of
attendance and participation, will be made at the end of the semester and will
count 10% of your grade. If your overall grade average other than attendance
places you on the margin between one grade and another, this could make a
difference and will also be consulted in cases where, after all the scores are
added up, including participation, a student is still on the borderline between
grades. Roll will be taken by passing a
roll sheet around. If I forget to start
a roll sheet around the class, a student should tear out a page of notebook
paper and pass it around.
If
excused absences for participation in athletic contests occur on a quiz day, an
arrangement for making up the material should be made before the absence,
not after. Make-up of a quiz may be by
oral exam or by an alternate form of the quiz.
When an absence is due to illness, please phone my office at 479-7092,
if possible prior to the absence.
Except when emergency conditions totally beyond the control of the
student prevent him/her from getting to a phone to make proper arrange-ments,
make-up quizzes arranged for after the quiz hour and papers handed in
after the due date will be graded down one letter grade. Quizzes must be made up within seven days of
return to health and if possible before the next quiz occurs.
The weekly quizzes and the two papers. Each quiz will have ten possible points for a
possible semester total of 100, but the quiz will usually have more than ten
questions. If there are twenty
questions, for instance, each question will count .5 points. The grades from the best ten
quizzes will be used to calculate the semester quiz grade. Quiz #12 will be during the first 15-20
minutes of the final exam and must be passed, or it will count along with the
nine best quizzes. Taking and passing more
than the required ten quizzes will enhance the participation grade. The system of allowing the best ten scores
to count has proved to have high motivating value because a low score or a
missed score can be dropped without impairing the overall total of the best ten
grades. In general, the best individual
semester totals on quizzes run fairly high, so in general a total of 93 or
better on the best ten quizzes will be necessary for the A grade on the
quizzes, and the B grades will be 81-92, and the C 70-80, the D 60-69, and the
F is 59 or below. If the class quiz
totals run lower, the grade norms will be adjusted appropriately.
Weighting of the Components
of the Semester Grade: The ten best quizzes out of the twelve will be the
basic determinant of your grade and count 60% of the total. The first essay, in class on January 25,
will count 5% along with 6% for the quiz. The second essay, a prepared paper on
The Way of Chuang Tzu on March 1,
will count 10% of the semester grade.
The participation rating counts 10%, and the final exam will count
15%. There will be no midterm
examination. Your grade rests on
the best ten of your weekly quizzes, your participation, the two essays, one in
class plus one prepared outside class and the final exam. The prepared essay comes on March 1, so your
grade after that rests on the quizzes, your participation, and the final exam.
Weighting
of the Grades
Best ten of
twelve weekly quizzes 60%
Two
interpretive essays 15%
Essay Final
Exam 15%
Class participation rating 10%
Extra credit reading or an extra-credit paper may be arranged for
during the semester up to one week before the last day of classes and must be
completed before the final examinations begin.
Such work may substitute for a low or missed quiz (6%), or it may be
substitute for a low grade on one of the two essays (5% or 10% depending on the
amount of work it involves).