3.1 Philosophy

Getting Started

This exercise will continue the use of journaling, which is a very important part of “doing” philosophy. There are a number of things you will be required to have in your journal each week; however, you may add anything you want. This is as much to benefit you as it is for part of your grade. We hope that you will continue to journal on a regular basis through your academic journey. In your journal, you will respond to the weekly journal assignment and record your answers to the assigned worldview questions from Chapter 1.

You are also required to answer the study questions at the end of each of the assigned chapters in preparation for taking the weekly quiz. Your Journal is the place for you to record any observations about life, reality and philosophy during this course.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Reflect on your understanding of the concept of a worldview and related philosophical ideas concerning human existence and the nature of other things.

Resources

· Textbook: A Christian Philosophical Journey

· A Standard Translation of the Bible as noted in the syllabus.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. In your textbook, A Christian Philosophical Journey, read:

a. Chapter 7

b. Chapter 8

c. Chapter 9

3. Using the Week 3 Worldview Questions and End of Chapter Questions Template , respond to the following questions.

a. In addition, answer these questions: How many different parts to reality are there? (For example, body, soul, mind? Natural or supernatural?) What is the difference, if any? Give an example of something that is true that is not material and that is not provable by a scientific method/standard.

b. In addition, ask yourself these questions: Have you ever tried to define yourself as a human? What would that definition include? What does the Bible say about who humans are? From what you know about psychology, how does science describe a human being? Is humanistic existentialism a direct opposite of the biblical concept of the image of God in humans?

c. Questions 1–4, Chapter 7 (p. 131)

d. Questions 1–5, Chapter 8 (p. 154)

e. Questions 1–5, Chapter 9 (p. 183)

f. Worldview Question #2 (Chapter 1, page 5): What is the nature of the other things that exist (separate from God)? Are we ideas in the mind of God? Is matter something different from spirit or mind? Is there even such a thing as a spirit?

g. Worldview Question #5 (Chapter 1, page 6): What is a human being? Are you simply a biological machine? A being created in the image of God? Feel free to use the Life Application Study Bible in order to help answer in a theological way, as well.