RELIGST 1B03 Lecture Notes - Four Noble Truths, Impermanence, Noble Eightfold Path

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Religious Studies
• Course: RELIGST 1B03

Document Summary

Originally, the course what on earth is religion was a full year course as an introduction to. World religion. however, that proved to be slightly ineffective as it glossed over certain smaller traditions and cultures when focusing only on approx. This course is more about: what constitutes religion, what consists of studying religion" as a practice and experience (even though we will be looking at certain smaller traditions and cultures) When we"re talking about the discipline of religious studies and how it has progressed over the years, students in the discipline of religious studies strive to examine all aspects of religion with a value-free orientation. It is the responsibility of religious studies scholars to try to position themselves outside all religious traditions and then examine each with a healthy measure of neutrality. However, we are aware that complete neutrality or objectivity is not only an ideal, which is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve perfectly.