Lecture Notes

Week 1

Lecture 1: Syllabus; Aristotelian vs. Four-step logic.

Lecture 2: Indus Valley Civilization; Vedic Religion; Caste System

Lecture 3: Logic of the  Rig Veda;  Hindu  literature  from  the  Vedas to the Puranas

Week 2

Lecture 1: Comparison: Soren Kierkegaard, Fear & Trembling vs. Bhagavad Gita

Lecture 2: Rig Veda, Bhagavad Gita, Gita Govinda - Ascetic, Warrior, Trickster; Buddhism: Sakyamuni Buddha

Lecture 3: Buddhism: Early Teachings: Nikaya Buddhism

Week 3

Lecture 1: Mahayana Buddhism: Nagarjuna and the Two-Fold Truth

Lecture 2: The Vimalakirti Sutra: The Goddess and Sariputra

Week 4

Lecture 1: Early Chinese Civilization and Confucius' World of Ideas

Lecture 2: Fingarette, Confucius - The Secular as Sacred &

Confucius' Orchestral Vision

Lecture 3: Introduction to  Daoism: Laozi & Zhuangzi; Exam A

Week 5

Lectures 1-2: Daoism: Zhuangzi

Lecture 3: Chinese Philosophical Schools

Week 6

Lecture 1: Chinese Philosophical Schools (cont.)

Lecture 2: Zen Buddhism: China: Bodhidharma

Lecture 3: Zen Buddhism: Japan: Dogen

Week 7

Lectures 1 & 2: Zen Buddhism: Japan: Dogen (cont.)

Lecture 3: Comparisons with Soren Kierkegaard

Week 8

Lectures 1-3: Pure Land Buddhism: Japan: Shinran

Week 9

Lecture 1: Comparison: Keller, "Ethic of Inseparability," Lorde, "Uses of the Erotic"

Lecture 2: Exam B

Lecture 3: Korean Buddhism: Wonhyo