PHIL 202-3 Study Guide - Summer 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Baltimore Stars, Christianity, Meditation
PHIL 202-3
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
PHIL 202
Ch. 1 About Religion (pt. 1)
Chapter Outline:
• Basic Human Religion: Looking Both Ways from Stonehenge
• Looking Forward from Stonehenge
• What Is Religion?
• Why Study Religion?
• Religious Diversity
Basic Human Religion:
Looking Both Ways from Stonehenge
Looking Back from Stonehenge:
• There are a few concepts, shared by virtually all human cultures, which seem
fundamental to what we call religion
• These concepts are so old and so widespread that no one can say where or when they first
emerged”
Three Worlds
• Sky: associated with deities
• Earth: associated with humans
• Underworld: associated with monsters
Sacred Places
• Presence of energy or power
• Set aside (sacred)
• Mountains and hilltops
o “High places”
• Rivers and waterfalls
Animal Spirits
• Associated with a collective guardian spirit
o Animals are treated with respect
• Body parts of animals = “power objects”
Death and Burial
• Burial positions
o Towards the east = rising of the sun
o Fetal = hope for a rebirth
• Grave goods
o Provisions for the afterlife
• Dead ancestors
o Guide for their living descendants
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Why Are Humans Religious?
• Religion seems to grow out of human experiences
o The fear of death
o The hope for a good afterlife
o The uncertainty surrounding natural events
o The sense of control over nature
• Religion emerges through the experience of good or bad powers that are sensed in
dreams, in sacred spaces, and in certain humans and animals
• Emotional and intellectual dimensions
o Curiosity and drive to make sense of the world and experience
• The nature of religious belief and practice has changed through the centuries, so we must
be careful not to take the religion of any particular time and places as the norm
• Religion has become part of human nature
o Homo religiosus
Looking Forward from Stonehenge
Shamanism
• Shaman: intermediary between humans and the spirit world
o Ritual specialist
o Also known as medicine man, soul doctor, and witchdoctor
Hunting Rituals
• Coping with dangerous situations
o Spirits survive death
o Shamans appease spirits
The Shaman
• “Called” by own abilities (hereditary, psychic abilities)
• Communicate with spirits by entering a “trance state”
Connecting to the Cosmos
• Sacred areas
• Discerning the cosmic cycles
o Seasonal activities, such as planting
o Decision making
• Hilltop tombs
o Connect earth with the heavens
• Axis mundi (“world axis”)
Connecting to the Cosmos, cont’d
• Animals and gods
o Associate specific gods to specific animals
• Egyptian goddess Bast linked to cats
• Hindu goddess Durga linked to lions
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Chapter outline: basic human religion: looking both ways from stonehenge, looking forward from stonehenge, what is religion, why study religion, religious diversity. Three worlds: sky: associated with deities, earth: associated with humans, underworld: associated with monsters. Sacred places: presence of energy or power, set aside (sacred, mountains and hilltops, high places , rivers and waterfalls. Animal spirits: associated with a collective guardian spirit. Animals are treated with respect: body parts of animals = power objects . Death and burial: burial positions, towards the east = rising of the sun, fetal = hope for a rebirth, grave goods, provisions for the afterlife, dead ancestors, guide for their living descendants. Shamanism: shaman: intermediary between humans and the spirit world, ritual specialist, also known as medicine man, soul doctor, and witchdoctor. Hunting rituals: coping with dangerous situations, spirits survive death, shamans appease spirits. The shaman: called by own abilities (hereditary, psychic abilities, communicate with spirits by entering a trance state .
