Use philosophical language that demonstrates your critical thinking as you write your responses. Submit only in Microsoft Word doc or docx format.

In our study of World Philosophy this semester, we have explored three major worldviews –Western [including the Greek Rationalist and Hebrew Religious traditions], Asian [including Buddhism and Taoism], and Traditional African [including East and West Africa]. Each section of our text has explored one of the three major categories or divisions within philosophy:

• Metaphysics [What is Real?] especially questions related to Human Nature and Personhood
• Epistemology [How Do we Know?] especially questions related to What Counts as Reliable Knowledge
• Axiology [What Do We Value?] especially questions of Ethical Decision Making – Virtue Theory (Path of Virtue, Ethic of Care), Teleological Theory (Utilitarian Ethics), and Deontological Ethical Theory (Duty Ethics)

Part One: Defining and Analyzing three major Worldviews

(30 points) Using the categories and philosophical language used above, write three short, coherent essays, describing the key features of each of the following worldviews:

1. Western views of Metaphysics (reality), Epistemology (knowing), and Axiology (valuing)
2. Asian views of Metaphysics (reality), Epistemology (knowing), and Axiology (valuing)
3. Traditional African views of Metaphysics (reality), Epistemology (knowing), and Axiology (valuing)

Part Two: Applying Worldviews to Questions/Issues

(30 points) Apply one of the three Worldviews [Western, Asian, or Traditional African] to each of the following three situations – using all three eventually. Use philosophical language – particular views or theories of Human Nature, specific Knowledge Theories, and specific Ethical Theories. Be sure to indicate how the worldview of each theory shapes a response to the issues/questions raised:

1. Metaphysics – Human Nature or Personhood [Response to the realization that one’s love is an android or a clone] Choose Western, Asian, or Traditional African.
2. Epistemology – Knowledge Theory [If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?] Choose Western, Asian, or Traditional African.
3. Axiology – Ethical Theory [the killing of Bin Laden — the choice to push a button and eliminate all suffering, transferring it to one insignificant being] Choose Western, Asian, or Traditional African. ( This is information for you about Osama bin Laden. He joined the Afghan resistance when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. After the Soviet withdrawal, bin Laden formed the al-Qaeda network which carried out global strikes against Western interests, culminating in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. On May 2, 2011, President Barack Obama announced that bin Laden was killed in a terrorist compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.)

Part Three: Placing My Core Beliefs (my personal worldview) within the Western, Asian, and Traditional African worldviews

(40 points) Name and describe the key elements that make up your own core beliefs and provide the framework for your worldview. Now that you have completed a course in Philosophy, place your personal core beliefs within the three Worldviews you have studied this semester. Where are the specific places at which your core beliefs resonate with specific aspects of these worldviews?