Understanding Buddhist Philosophy (2025 Winter Semester)
1. Keywords
Buddhism, Buddhist Studies, History of Buddhism, Indian Buddhism, East Asian
Buddhism, Buddhism as Philosophy.
2. Course Objectives
- Understand the history of Buddhism in the context of India.
- Explore the evolution of Buddhist doctrine and its key theories.
- Comprehend the philosophical ideas contained in Buddhism.
3. Textbooks
- Gethin, Rupert. 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism. 1 edition. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
- Williams, Paul et al. 2002. Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian
Tradition. Routledge.
- Siderits, Mark. 2007. Buddhism as Philosophy, Ashgate
4. Evaluation
Attendance: 15%
- Roll call at the beginning of each class. Each absence is 1%, each tardy or leaving
early will count as 1/2% off.
- More than 5 absences (or 15 tardies) will result in a failed grade (F).
Attitude: 10%
Exam: 75%
- Midterm Exam: 35%
- Final Exam: 40%
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5. Tentative Schedule
Week 1 (Sep.1): Introduction: Understanding of Buddhist Philosophy
- An Overview of Coursework
- Questions: What is “Buddhist Philosophy”? What does “Understanding” mean?
Week 2 (Sep.8): Why is India called India?
- Different Perspectives on Buddhist Studies
- Buddhism, as Religion and as Philosophy
- The Original Purpose of Buddhism
Week 3 (Sep.15): The Buddha in Story
- Watch a Movie: <Little Buddha> (1993)
Week 4 (Sep.22): When did Buddhism begin?
- Gotama Siddhārtha and the Buddha
- Languages, Texts, and Scripts of Buddhism
Week 5 (Sep.29): Historical Buddha and Religious Buddha
- History or Story of the Buddha
- A Philosophical Approach to the Legendary Stories
Week 6 (Oct.6): Chu-Seok (Korean Thanksgiving Day)
- Online: Movies <Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring>)
Week 7 (Oct.13): Buddha’s Enlightenment: Life is Suffering
- The Three Marks of Existence
- The Four Noble Truths
Week 8 (Oct.20): Mid-term Exam
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Week 9 (Oct.27): Self? Or Non-self?
- Anitya and Anātman, A Philosophical Approach
- Dependent Origination: Causality
Week 10 (Nov.3): Karma and Middle-path
- Nirvāṇa: The Ultimate Liberation
- From Asceticism to Mindfulness
- Techniques of Meditation
Week 11 (Nov.10): The Abhidharma tradition (feat. Movie <Arrival> (2016))
- From Practitioners to Philosophers
- The Establishment of Buddhist Theories
- Sarvāstivāda’s Ontology and Theory of Time
Week 12 (Nov.17): The Mahāyāna Tradition: Madhyamaka school
- A New Stream: Salvation and Bodhisattva
- Madhyamaka and Emptiness Psychological Approach
- feat. Movie <Matrix> (1999)
Week 13 (Nov.24): The Mahāyāna Tradition: Yogācāra school (vijñaptimātratā)
- Mind Only
- Psychological Approach
Week 14 (Dec.1): Introduction to Pramāṇa Tradition & History of East Asia Buddhism
- From enlightenment to knowledge, from faith to reasoning
- Buddhist Logic, Buddhist Epistemology
- Buddhism in East Asia (China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, etc.)
- Zen tradition: Who am I? What is “I”?
- Tulku: Reincarnation in Tibet.
- Translations and Creation of Texts
Week 15 (Dec.8) Final exam
