ASSIGNMENT
1) In the first paragraph, you should clearly explain how we can think of Daoism as a philosophy of
nature. What is it about Daoism that would encourage us to understand this religion as a way of
thinking about the natural world? What is important about the fact that Daoism is based on such a
foundation?
2) In the second paragraph, you should clearly explain how we can view Daoism as a religion. What
aspects of this “philosophy” are particularly religious in nature? What are the religious foundations
of Daoism, and what are the basic teachings that build upon that foundation?
3) In the third paragraph, you will explain how Daoism might be thought of as a system of ritual
practices. This is related to it being a religion—but different. Removing the specifically “religious”
aspects, how might someone practice the ritual of Daoism, separate from its religious implications?
What is the importance of ritual, when viewed in this way?
4) In your final paragraph, you will expand these ideas to other religious traditions (perhaps your
own). All religions have different aspects—they are ways of thinking about the world, they are
religious systems, they are sets of ritual practice. Explain how seeing these distinctions in Daoism
should impact our thinking about religion in general. Choose another religion—either your own, or
one that we have already studied in the course—and show how these different aspects can be
identified within that religious tradition.
Remember that the goal is to explain—not to merely report. Don’t just tell me what you read about;
explain what it meant. The goal is to explain the ideas, in your own words, as you would explain it to
someone who knows nothing about Daoism. How would you explain to a friend why these different
aspects of “religion” are important? Ideally, you would not quote from the article; demonstrate your
understanding by explaining in your own words. If you do feel that you need to quote, a brief quote
or two is acceptable, as long as the quote is placed in quotation marks and a page number is
correctly cited.
