Part A (400 words minimum, 450 words maximum)
Consider the analysis offered by Stephen Batchelor in the chapter “Emptiness,” from his book Buddhism
Without Beliefs, alongside these other assigned selections from traditional Buddhist teachings and scriiptures:
(1) The Simile of the Chariot, (2) Change and Identity, and (3) the Introduction and translations of two
versions of the Heart Sutra, reprinted in the Buddhist journal Tricycle.
What are the most important ways in which the ideas and understandings presented in the traditional texts
listed above correspond to and offer support for the analysis Batchelor presents?
(Remember that you should not present your own value judgements about, or agree or disagree with, the
arguments and ideas presented in these assignments. Rather, you are simply being asked to identify and
explain how the key ideas are related to each other, given the evidence presented in the text itself.)
Part B (400 words minimum, 450 words maximum)
In his essay “That to Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die,” Michel de Montaigne offers an argument about
what he believes is the proper way for human beings to approach the prospect of their own deaths. It is an
argument that Montaigne clearly knows will be difficult for many if not most of us to accept.
What are the most important ways in which Montaigne tries to persuade us that we should accept his
approach to death? In preparing your answer, do not focus on what setting forth in detail what Montaigne’s
approach to death is (though you may state that very briefly in a short sentence or two). Instead, focus on
how Montaigne tries to convince his readers that what he is talking about is a way of living that will be good
for us.
(Remember that you should not present your own value judgements about, or agree or disagree with,
Montaigne’s views. Rather, you are simply being asked to identify and explain his argumentative strategies,
given the evidence presented in the text itself.)
