Chung Yuan Christian University Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Life FAQ
- Concerning Course Selection
1. Do I need to take both Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Life classes?
A：Yes, Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Life are required general education courses.
2.What if I am unable to get a spot in a Philosophy of Religion/Life class?
A：Each semester there are around 50 sections of Philosophy of Religion/Life. Students should select courses according to the announced schedule from the Office of Academic Affairs. If you are a fourth or fifth year senior who has not yet met the requirement, you can come to the Chaplain’s Office on the first day of the semester to manually select courses. Please pay attention to Chaplain’s Office announcements about the timing and method to manually adding courses.
3. Who can manually add Philosophy of Religion/Life to their schedules?
A： In order to help students meet their graduation requirements, the Chaplains’ office allows graduating seniors (4th or 5th years), transfer students, and re-matriculating students to apply to manually add courses. (Note: transfer students and re-matriculating students may only apply during their entering/re-entering semester.)
4. Can I directly ask teachers to sign for a course transfer?
A：Unfortunately, this method is not allowed. Because of the limited space in each class and in order to accommodate the needs of graduating seniors, transfer students, or re-matriculating students, all course transfers are managed and coordinated by the Chaplain’s Office.
- Concerning the Course Sequence
1.Should I take Philosophy of Religion or Philosophy of Life first?
A：The program is designed with the hope that students will first take Philosophy of Life, allowing them to explore their relationship with their self, their society, the material world, and the cosmos in an integrated manner, so that they will have an integrated and holistic sense of their self and values. Afterward, when taking Philosophy of Religion, students can use philosophical concepts to research religious beliefs so as to develop a life direction and pursue a sense of meaning. However, this is not a rigorously enforced requirement and it is still possible to first take Philosophy of Religion.
2.Can I take both classes at the same time?
A：No. The program is designed with the hope that students will first take Philosophy of Life, allowing them to explore their relationship with their self, their society, the material world, and the cosmos in an integrated manner, so that they will have an integrated and holistic sense of their self and values. Afterward, when taking Philosophy of Religion, students can use philosophical concepts to research religious beliefs so as to develop a life direction and pursue a sense of meaning. Therefore, they cannot be taken concurrently. However, exceptions can be made only if it is necessary in order to meet graduation requirements for graduating seniors or for short-term exchange students.
- Concerning Philosophy of Religion/Life Course Content
1.What do Philosophy of Religion/Life teach? What is the difference?
A：
Philosophy of Life helps students explore their relationship with their self, their society, the material world, and the cosmos in an integrated manner, so that they will have an integrated and holistic sense of their self and values. Hopefully, when students face various difficulties or challenges they will be able to wisely discern, judge, critique, and reason so as to maintain a heathy value-system and sense of self in a world with chaotic events and complex sources of information. Through this, students will recognize the value of a life filled with faith, hope, and love.
Philosophy of Religion discusses religious belief and spiritual formation. Courses cover topics such as “Introduction to Religion”, “Ontology”, “Cognition and Criticism”, “Religious Experiences”, “History of Religion”, “Religious Phenomenon”, etc. The course applies a philosophical approach to analyzing religious conceptions of belief, values, and the meaning of life.
2.Are Philosophy of Religion/Life specifically Christian classes?
A：
Philosophy of Religion/Life does not require students to participate in a particular religion, nor do they teach a single religious perspective or content. As mentioned above, Philosophy of Religion emphasizes a philosophical approach to research and understanding religions faith in general. The course covers topics such as “Introduction to Religion”, “Ontology”, “Cognition and Criticism”, “Religious Experiences”, “History of Religion”, “Religious Phenomenon”, etc.
Philosophy of life is a course that explores values, shapes personality, and helps students seek meaning in life. The class investigates what it means to be a person based on the Chung Yuan holistic education perspective, so that students will have an integrated and holistic sense of their self and values.
As such, neither of these courses teach about a single religion nor are involved in proselytizing.
