Philosophy 2420, 2007-8 Second Semester.

Final Essay ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC:

You choose your own topic. It can be on a single philosopher, or centered on an issue, or an interpretation, etc. It can be comparative in nature, or be critical analysis, or explorations of theoretical and practical implications. However, (1) the paper has to be on Chinese metaphysics. (2) it should not be a mere repetition of what class lectures were about or what you read from others. (3) It should be like a journal article that examines a theory rather than a textbook chapter that introduces a theory.

A few possible topics for you to consider:

· Synchronicity of the I Ching and Interpenetration of Hua Yan Buddhism.

· Indra’s Net and the Confucian Notion of Self.

· Metaphysics as Justification, as Description of Reality, or as Therapy in Chinese Philosophical Traditions.

· Do Humans Have a Nature? Comparing Buddhist Idea of Anatman and Mencius’ Theory of Human Nature.

· The Notion of “Tong” (Through) in Chuang Tzu and in Seng Chao’s Treatises.

· The Confucian Unity of Heaven and Human Compared to the Christian Idea of ….

GUIDELINES:

1. The paper should be around 5-8 pages, typewritten, double‑spaced.

2. Don't try to discuss everything. Focus on the most essential.

3. Express yourself as clearly as possible in a coherent and organized manner. Do not throw in words or expression that you yourself don’t understand.

4. Avoid plagiarism. When you cite or paraphrase some sources, acknowledge them and identify the sources very specifically in footnotes or endnotes.

5. Your paper will be evaluated primarily on its understanding of the philosophies involved. Other relevant factors will be its logical organization, clarity of thought, and the depth of your analysis and insights.

DUE DATE: May 8th.

Style for References

References of quotes should appear at the end of each quote, in parenthesis, with the author’s last name, the year of the publication (when the paper quotes more than one publications from the same author), and page number. For example “The quote from Graham” (Graham, 1989, 112). When the quote runs on in the text, as it is shown above, the last punctuation should be placed after the reference. When the quote is three lines or longer (exceeds 30 words), it should be extracted and indented, as is shown below, and the last punctuation should appear at the end of the quote.

This is extract paragraph style for quotations that are longer than 30 words (shorter quotes should run on in the text). It will look like this. Notice the font is one size smaller than the regular text, and is indented by 0.5 inch from both sides. (Author, year, page number)

When you paraphrase or summarize a text authored by someone, you should not use quotation marks around the content, but still give bibliographic information of the text which you paraphrase. For example:

Heaven and human are in a special kind of part-whole relation. Hall and Ames point out that there are different kinds of part-whole relations. A part can simply be a constituent of the whole, as in the case of an apple being part of a bag of apples. A part can be a functionally interrelated element of the whole, as in the case of a stomach being part of a digestive system. A part can be a particular instance of a universal archetype, as a particular chair is an instance of chair. The kind which applies to Confucian Heaven-human relation is one in which a part reflects, contains, and affects its whole, as in the case of the hologram (See Hall and Ames, 237-8).

At the end of the paper you should have a list of bibliographical references that are actually quoted or paraphrased in the paper (leave out the ones that you consulted but did not quote or use in your article. List the name of the author(s), the year of publication, the title of the article or the book, the publisher, etc. In the case of a web page, indicate the date you accessed it as well, since web pages may change over the time. Pay attention to the details of the style in the following examples (such as the use of “hanging paragraph”) and notice the differences between a journal article and a book:

REFERENCES

Chan, Wing-tsit. 1955. “The Evolution of the Confucian Concept of Ren.” Philosophy of East and West, 4, 295-315.

Graham, A. C. 1985. “ ‘Being’ in Classical Chinese,” in Verhaar (1967), 1-39.

——————. 1989. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Early China. LaSalle, IL: Open Court.

Cheng, Chung-ying 1971. “Chinese Philosophy: A Characterization.” Inquiry, 14, 95-119.

Hall, David L. and Ames, Roger T. 1987. Thinking Through Confucius. Albany: SUNY Press.

Verhaar, John W. M. (ed.) 1967ff. The Verb “Be” and Its Synonyms. Foundations of Language, Supplementary Series. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel.

Eric Roth. “Forrest Gump,” screenplay based on a novel by Winston Groom. http://www.weeklyscript.com/Forrest%20Gump.txt. Accessed 09/02/2006.