Please pick one of the following and submit your essay (or project) to Blackboard:
1. Write an essay that compares and contrasts the Eight-Fold Path and the Socratic method as ways to achieve wisdom. How does each one lead to knowledge? Give examples. Are there any contexts in which one is preferable to the other? Explain.
2. Write an essay that analyzes the first three Noble Truths as an argument with the First Noble Truth and Second Noble Truth as premises, and the Third Noble Truth as the conclusion. Explain how the 4th Noble Truth can be seen as providing a way to show that the 3rd Noble Truth can be achieved. Is the argument deductive/inductive, valid/strong, sound/cogent? Why or why or why not?
3. Write an engaging short story in which one person teaches the other about logical reasoning, including logical arguments, premises, conclusions, truth, deductive and inductive arguments, validity, soundness, strength and cogency. Illustrate the uses of logical reasoning through the way the characters develop and the action unfolds. The short story should be 3-4 pages and include each of the topics listed.
4. Discuss how the film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring is an illustration of Buddhist philosophical ideas. In what ways does the film accurately represent the ideas we studied. In what ways does the film differ from our text? Explain and give examples from the readings and film.
Essays/Projects should be 3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced. Each essay should have an introduction which includes a thesis statement, a body which supports the thesis statement, make reference to the texts we read (quote), and a conclusion that summarizes the essay’s main point and draws the attention of the reader outward to some additional connection.
