FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS

I will choose four of these questions on the evening of December 11. You may use any resource material in preparing for and writing the exam. I suggest that you do the exam in four separate sittings rather than all at once. You are on your honor and you must keep your writing time to 3 hours.  I will double the points to make a total of 100 points. Note: Typing time is outside the exam time.  

Your exam must be e-mailed to me at n_gier@hotmail.com by 5PM on December 19th. No late exams will be accepted

1.  In class we talked about the Godhead and its manifestations (Brahman: Brahman, Vishnu, Shiva; Christian God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We also discussed the logic of composition whether it follows that if the manifestations are personal, then the Godhead must be personal. Can one argue, without committing the fallacy of composition, that the Godhead can be impersonal and its manifestations personal?

2. The doctrine of anekantavada is one of Jainism's greatest contributions to epistemology and also to intellectual and religious tolerance. Explain how the doctrine works and how it relates to the Jain's 7-fold analysis.  It appears that Jain saints are exempt from the qualified knowledge that anekantavada requires. Is there any way to defend Jainism against this major inconsistency?

3.  Compare and contrast Jainism and Sankhya-Yoga on the nature of reality, cosmology, the nature of the soul, and the status and destiny of the saint/yogi.

4.  Explain and assess John White's criticism of Advaita Vedanta.  Is there any way that the Advaitins can defend themselves against his charges?

5.  Why does Gandhi reverse the time-honored order of the words "God is Truth."  Assess all the reasons that he does this.

6.  In a concise essay, write your own interpretation of Gandhi's relationship to his own Indian tradition.

7.  Discuss John White's three alternatives to the relationship of God and the world.  How would you fit panentheism into this discussion.  (What thinkers might be represented by this view?) Why does White believe that Shankara's view is not pantheistic?

8.  Take the Upanishadic Tat Tvam Asi and interpret it according to the three classical Vedantists.