This document outlines an assessment that will evaluate a student's understanding of non-Western philosophies compared to Western philosophies. Specifically, it requires the student to: 1) Identify and compare two non-Western philosophical systems, including their origins, practices, and key concepts. 2) Evaluate the underlying logic of both philosophies and analyze their interconnections to history and differences from Western philosophy. 3) Define concepts of time and epistemology in the two systems and compare their views to Western philosophy. 4) Summarize how studying these philosophies impacts one's worldview and cultural awareness.

1. This assessment will assess your mastery with respect to the
following course outcomes:
and epistemology in non-Western philosophies
-Western ways of thinking
with Western philosophies
sociopolitical norms, and economic developments of non-
Western cultures influenced
fundamental philosophical divergences from Western
philosophies
connectedness of non-Western philosophies
with their respective cultural histories
-Western philosophies on one’s
personal worldview and cultural awareness
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Identify two non-Western philosophical systems that you
intend to compare.
a. Which two non-Western philosophical systems are you
comparing?
b. Which country does each philosophy originate in? When was
each philosophy brought into being, and who was involved?
c. How do the followers behave within each philosophy? Who is
considered to be the leaders or authority in each philosophy?
d. Where do the followers and leaders tend to practice? What
rituals do they engage in? What unique key themes or
concepts—other
than logic, time, and epistemology—do they appreciate,
worship, and extol?
II. Evaluate the underpinnings of the logic of both philosophies.
a. Clearly evaluate the underpinnings of the logic of both
philosophies.
b. What are the main differences of the theories/culture of these

2. two non-Western philosophies to Western philosophy?
c. Analyze the interconnectedness of the histories to each of
these philosophies.
III. Define time and epistemology.
a. Define time and epistemology in both non-Western
philosophies.
b. Identify the main differences in thinking between the two
non-Western philosophies in relation to Western philosophy.
c. How are these different views of time and epistemology
similar to Western philosophy?
IV. Summarize how delving into these two philosophies impacts
one’s personal worldview and cultural awareness.
Islamic and Buddhist Philosophies
May 15, 2016
In recent years, psychologists have developed an interest
in finding out whether people other than philosophers have
ideas about how knowledge is justified or what knowledge
really is. In other words, researchers have wondered if people in
different cultures and religions have beliefs about
epistemological questions and whether these beliefs affect their
reasoning or learning in any way (Hamid, 2004). This paper

3. will focus on the philosophy of Islam and Buddhism. It will
include a detailed analysis of these two philosophies by
defining their time and epistemology, analyzing their similarity
and difference and evaluating the logic of the underpinning of
the two philosophies.
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates
and describes what knowledge is to a particular group of people
or culture and how different people know whether they have
knowledge on something. It addresses questions, such as What
is knowledge? What provides a justification for any knowledge
that they have? How do people know if they really have
knowledge? The term epistemic indicates that an activity or a
person is oriented to deciding what to believe and why to
believe it (Cheetham, Pratt & Thomas, 2013).
Different cultures or religions have different knowledge
about certain phenomena or aspects of life, which makes them
hold on to particular philosophies or beliefs that are quite
different from the philosophies of other people. For instance, in
religious philosophy, Muslims have different beliefs that are
different from Buddhism or Christianity, whereas Buddhists
also have their own beliefs that are quite different from the
other religions. (Elverskog, 2010)
The differences in such philosophies are normally due to
the different types of knowledge that they have on certain
issues. People do form beliefs and come up with certain
philosophy so such beliefs, This could be expressed more
clearly. and by carefully examining the basis upon which they
form these beliefs, researchers or philosophers can identify their
epistemic practices or epistemological commitments.
However, the aspect of time will always affect the
philosophies of different groups of people or cultures. With
time, the beliefs and philosophies tend to increase or decrease
based upon how the knowledge that surrounds those particular
beliefs has been manipulated over the years (Elverskog, 2010).
When people acquire knowledge over a period that makes them

4. increase their faith in what they believe, their philosophies from
such beliefs strengthens, new sentence. however (comma) when
they acquire knowledge that in some way contradicts with what
they believe over a period of time, their philosophies tend to
weaken. This needs a supporting example from an academic
source to be clear.
As noted earlier, different cultures and religions have
varying beliefs that dictate the different philosophies that they
uphold based upon different situations. Some of these
philosophies can be totally different from each other, while in
some cases, such philosophies can have certain similarities. For
instance, in this case, we will note that although Islam and
Buddhism have different beliefs and philosophies, they
sometime share certain similarity in their philosophy. Islam and
Buddhism were founded more than a millennium apart in very
different parts of the world and this is reflected in their
worldviews. (Shah-Kazemi, Hangon, Nagban, Gazi & Kamali,
2010)
In terms of practice, Muslims base their religion on five
pillars, which include testament that there is one God and
Muhammad is his messenger (shahadah), five daily prayer
times, fasting during Ramadan, pilgrimage and charity to the
poor. Buddhists on the other hand, practice on the threefold
training that includes; concentration, virtue and wisdom
(Nathan & Kamali, 2005). Secondly, in terms of the use of
statues and pictures, Muslims do not permit the images of God
or prophets. Muslims distinguish themselves from other
religious groups by not drawing architecture as a representative
of God or religion. (Nathan & Kamali, 2005) They regard such
acts as idolatry worshiping. However, the use of statues and
picture is common to the Buddhist religion. (Eleverskog, 2010)
Thirdly, in Buddhism, their belief of God as the image of
an omnipotent or omniscient creator is rejected. In this religion,
the theistic argument that the universe was created by a self-
conscious personal God is refuted. Missing citation. Muslims,
on the other hand, believe in one God, who is the one true

5. creator of the universe. They believe that God has always
existed and will exist forever. He transcends life and death and
that He cannot be seen but sees all (Shah, 2010).
The fourth difference is that in Buddhist religion, if
nirvana is not attained during a person’s life, the aggregate will
be renewed into a completely different entity after his or her
death. They believe that if certain qualities in an individual are
subdued, his or her karma can cause any kind of negative or
positive effect in the future life. (Reza, 2010). Muslims, on the
other hand, believe that all beings are created with reason by
God and will be held accountable to God on their day of
judgment. They believe that every person will be rewarded for
the good they commit and either punished or forgiven for their
evil deeds. The final difference is in the goal of religion of
these two beliefs. The Buddhist goal is to attain enlightenment
and nirvana, while Islam’s goal is to fulfill responsibility of this
world by following the guidance of the holy Quran and Hadith
(Reza, 2010).
Despite the many differences, there exist similarities
between these two religious philosophies, (new sentence) both
religions share a faith in their founder, they all believe in the
existence of a Supreme Being. They believe that he
Technically, there is no supreme being in Buddhism. has earned
the supreme authority to teach and guide other religious
followers about the most important things in life (Reza, 2010).
The Buddha was revered for his attainment of enlightenment
and knowledge, but he is not seen as a deity. He is seen as
someone to emulate, while Muhammad was beloved because he
was the messenger chosen by God to receive and interpret the
Quran.
Both religions also have a set of ethical standards, the
Muslim Sharia and the Buddhist Eightfold Path (Reza,
2010).The existence of some philosophies in both Islam and
Buddhism, which cannot be understood by reason, are related to
the testing of humans on their ability to inherit such beliefs
from the previous generations. The principles of belief and

6. philosophies are based upon reason. A few principles of
religious philosophies exist in order to test a person’s belief and
surrender not to satisfy the mind. There need to be some
philosophies in these religions that the mind cannot easily
comprehend, so that it will be clear whether humans believe in
and surrenders to their religion or believes in their mind only.
The mind, on its own, cannot discover everything. If it were
possible for the mind to discover everything, there would be no
room for the preservation of certain philosophies and the
passing of those philosophies onto future generations.
Each philosophy or belief in the two religions has an area
that can only be understood by specialists (Reza, 2010). Those
specialists or philosophers can easily understand and interpret
the issue that some people, both outside and inside the religious
culture, cannot comprehend. (Lockard, 2008) Similarly, the fact
that some people cannot understand the truth behind certain
philosophies in both Islam and Buddhism does not mean that
those truths are illogical and unreasonable. (Chatham & Pratt,
2013) Who are the specialists in each faith? This could use
more explanation. Also, the focus is on the individual in
Buddhism and self-reflection, which is somewhat different from
the Muslim approach.
The rules and doctrines of both of these two religions are
suitable for the reason of man and his nature. All the rules in
both Islam and Buddhism are understandable in terms of logic
and reason. For instance in Islam, the institution of alms is an
establishment that balances the social order by the rich helping
the poor; (new sentence) this prevents conflict between them
and then turns any conflict into reconciliation, love and respect.
It also eliminates the injustice that may bring upon disliking
between layers and classes of the society. In this case, a
function that underpins the logic behind alms is very reasonable
and can easily be understood. (Nathan, 2005)
In addition, one of the first conditions of embracing
Islamic philosophies is having faith in Allah and his entire
apostle. They carry these beliefs in their hearts and feel that the

7. heart is large enough to hold inspiration and divine feelings.
(Contributing Writer, 2012) The style of the Qur’an is full of
logical and rational proofs that are required for the approval of
the reasoning of a person. (Nathan, 2005) Rational and logical
examples exist when talking about the fact that the holy Qur’an
is the word of Allah, and the existence of resurrection after
death is clearly explained.
Actually, if any punishment or order by Allah does not
satisfy the reasoning of man then we cannot claim that a fair
test exists here. For example, if someone makes a primary
education student responsible for the questions that belong to
the sciences, which are valid in a doctorate degree or the works
of university, then that person can be considered to have been
tortured. That is why Islamic philosophies provide an emphasis
on a person’s reasoning (Elverskog, 2010.)
Similarly, Buddhism also has its own logic that underpins
it religious philosophies. Buddha philosophy refers to the
systems of inquiry and philosophical investigations that
developed among various Buddhist schools in India following
the death of the Buddha and later spread throughout Asia.
Buddhism's main philosophy has always been freedom from
dukkha (unease) and the path to that ultimate freedom consists
in meditation, ethical action (karma) and in understanding the
nature of reality (Elverskog, 2010).
The epistemology of Buddha has been compared to
empiricism, in the sense that it was based upon experience of
the world through the senses. The Buddha teaches that empirical
observation through the six sense gates was the proper way of
verifying any claim of knowledge. Some Buddhists go even
further, stating that everything that exists (sabbam), are these
six sense spheres. (Lockard, 2008)
In conclusion, different cultures or religious philosophies
have underpinning logic behind their beliefs in their own
philosophies and ways of thinking. Although there are various
differences in people’s beliefs, certain philosophies still share
some similarities. Both the Muslim and Buddhist religion have

8. similarities and differences in their philosophies that make them
uniquely stand out in any given society when compared to other
Western on Non-Western ideas.
References
Cheetham, D., Pratt, D., & Thomas, D. (2013). Understanding
Interreligious Relations. Oxford, U.K: Oxford University Press
Contributing Writer. (2012). The Similarities & Differences in
Buddhism & Islam. OpposingViews, 46-52.
Elverskog, J. (2010). Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road.
Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Hamid, Y. (2004). A Critical Review of Epistemological and
Methodological Issues in Cross-Cultural Research. Journal of
Comaprative International Management, 46-55 (vol 7).
Lockard, C. A. (2008). Societies, networks, and transitions: vol.
2 A Global History. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Nathan, K. S., Kamali, M. H., & Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies. (2005). Islam in Southeast Asia: Political, social and
strategic challenges for the 21st century. Singapore: ISEAS.
Reza, S.K. (2010). Common Ground Between Islam and
Buddhism. Indiana Fons Vitae
Shah-Kazemi, R., Hanson, H. Y., Nagdban, Ġāzī M., & Kamali,
M. H. (2010). Common Ground Between Islam and Buddhism.
Louisville, KY. Fons Vitae
Greetings - You have successfully completed your 5-2
Milestone Three: Rough Draft. You are doing well developing a
comparative analysis of Buddhism and Islam.
Your draft is doing well comparing and contrasting two non-
Western philosophies. You identified two non-Western
philosophies in a detailed introduction. You evaluated the
underpinnings of each of your chosen philosophies. You also
defined epistemology in both of these philosophies, although
you need to more clearly address time in your final paper. You

9. provided a thoughtful analysis of the similarities and
differences between these two philosophical systems. Nice job
supporting your points with specific information from scholarly
sources. Overall, you are doing a good job developing your
ideas for your final paper. Be sure to incorporate the feedback
you received on your rough draft into your final paper.
You have good writing skills overall. Good job citing your
sources correctly.
Here is the rubric breakdown of your grade on your rough draft:
Identification of Philosophies: 28/28 pts.
Evaluation of Logic: 35/35 pts.
Definition of Time and Epistemology: 23.8/28 pts.
Analysis of Similarities and Differences: 35/35 pts.
Articulation of Response: 11.9/14 points.
5-2 Milestone Three: Rough Draft Grade: 133.7/140 points