Topics in Buddhist Philosophy

All readings for the course exist on a shared Google Folder. Before 6pm on the day before class, you must leave one comment on the assigned reading for that section. This comment can be as simple as highlighting a section of the reading and commenting that you do not understand it or would like it to be discussed in class, and as complex as drawing connections to other ideas or developing an objection to the reading. You should aim to do this ten times over the semester, so do make sure you keep track of how many comments you’ve made over the semester. 

Philosophy is at its heart something we do with others. It is rarely about magically having the best and most well-formed idea. We learn the most from communicating our ideas, actively listening to others, and coming to refine our ideas through this engagement. To this effect, in-class participation will make up 15% of your grade for the course. This will be determined by:

Attendance. Do attend as much class as you are able to, be as conversationally engaged as you can manage to be, and be communicative about absences. Email me as soon as you know that you need to skip class. Please skip class if you’re experiencing covid or flu symptoms, if you’re in more physical or mental pain than is standard or manageable for you, etc. I also understand that situations may unexpectedly arise and chronic illness might necessitate you skipping more sections than is ideal. If that happens do reach out to me and your Associate Dean and we’ll figure out a plan to keep you up to speed. 

Meaningful Contribution. You will be graded on the quality of your contribution to sections. You will not be graded highly or lowly based on the duration or number of times you talk or comment, but rather on how you demonstrate understanding of and respond to the claims and arguments in the assigned readings and the contributions of your peers in section. For some guidance on what meaningful participation in a philosophical discussion looks like, please see this helpful guide made by Olivia Bailey for more information.

For the section you've signed up for, you'll need to do a 10-minute presentation on the required reading for that section. In the presentation, you should identify and explain what you find to be the most salient argument(s) in the reading and respond to it by drawing connections, posing objections, or raising further questions about it. Then, you will lead a 10-minute discussion based on your presentation. Feel free to come to my office hours if you want to talk this through, but otherwise I’d like to hear from you in an email two days before the section. In this email, let me know what part of the reading your presentation will be focusing on and send me 1-3 guiding questions that you might pose to the class during your discussion facilitation.

Just before the mid-term break, we will have a Topics in Buddhist Philosophy Conference. Our conference is based on the format of a typical academic conference or workshop.  After you submit your essay idea proposals (~100-150 words), I will group you into smaller panels (3-4 students) based on similarities in the topic or theme of your proposed essay ideas. You should then get in touch with your fellow panelists to identify what the similarities and crossovers are in your essays, and email me with an agreed-upon title for your panel. During your conference panel, you should be prepared to share your essay idea with your peers, answer any questions that might come your way, and pose questions to your fellow panelists. 

Treat this like a 5-minute ideas pitch (“why I find working through this idea, argument, comparison, etc. interesting and important”; “these are the difficulties I foresee or conclusions I am currently leaning towards”) and not your final say on the topic (“this is my full essay outline from start to finish; I have made xyz arguments to defend my conclusion that ABC”). 

You will be graded on two things:

(1) How compelling your pitch is. This might include considerations like whether the claims you are making about the text or argument in question are plausible, whether the identified stakes ("what is so interesting or important about this?") are well-motivated, etc.

(2) How you respond to and pose questions. Responding: Being able to give helpful answers to clarify your project, being able to respond to potential objections or difficulties raised by your panelists or audience. With the latter, knowing when to defend and when to concede is an important skill! If you have a defense, that's great! But if someone does raise a genuine difficulty, it's good academic practice to learn how to acknowledge your current limitations and explain any steps you might take to address the issue after the panel. Posing questions: being able to pose relevant and helpful questions or comments that will aid your fellow panelists in developing their ideas. 

You will write a philosophical essay on a topic of your choosing (2500-3500 words). This topic must draw on at least one reading from the first half of our course (i.e. Weeks 2-6). I am open to comparative and interdisciplinary work, but do note that such undertakings tend to result in lengthier essays and plan your time accordingly.

You will undertake a project of your choosing, on a topic of your choosing, in any medium of your choosing. This could be a standard essay if you’re a philosopher who is planning on graduate school and really want to hone your academic writing skills, but it could as easily be a video essay, short film, artwork, literary piece, game design, etc. This unessay should be influenced by or informed by at least one of the readings from the course. You may work as a pair or trio if you find others in the class who are keen to collaborate with you on the same unessay. During our final class for the semester, we will have a symposium where you will share your unessay with the rest of the class. 

Your final submission should include an Artist/Writer/Designer’s Statement (roughly 500 words) where you explain the philosophical concept that you are exploring in your work and describe how you have conveyed it through said work. (It is possible that this might merely be an edited version of your initial proposal.) I will read this statement after looking at the unessay, and I will only use that as a reference for understanding what your aims were and whether they were successfully conveyed.

At the end of the course, I will be compiling all unessays into a class zine that will be distributed to all students in the course and the wider Yale-NUS community.