Taoism
James Hills Ancient History 12.01
Taoism
Analysis of Sources 1. Taoism: The quest for immortality (John Blofeld) This book is obviously a secondary source although it references some primary sources mainly the Tao Te Ching. The author of the book is a published author and therefore it can be assumed that the information inside is relatively accurate as a secondary source can get. The only possibility of bias is that the author is a follower of another religion, even so the bias will be minimal. 2. World Religious Reference Library
This source is a secondary source which contains references to primary sources. The book is written by a multitude of authors and as so the bias should be minimized as each would review each others writing. The information will be as accurate as a secondary source can be
3. Tao Te Ching
This source was authored by Lao-Tzu himself and therefore is a primary source. The source outlines the practices of Taoism and offers explanation. The only bias and innacuracies of information possible in this source is through translation error as the original source was in chinese.
4. “Taoism” (plato.stanford.edu/entries/taoism/)
Secondary source. Is highly reliable due to the publisher being the world renowned Stanford university. Only bias possible is Author Bias which when writing for a prestigious institution as Stanford the bias will be as minimal as possible to raise the standard of work.
5. ‘Taoism’ (http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm)
Secondary source. Reliability of source is questionable due to lack of references and primary sources present in the text. Author Bias is unknown but possible. 6. Introducing eastern philosophy
The author of the text has been published previously which lends authenticity to the text. Bias is unlikely due to the text being published but possible. Source is a secondary source.
7. Religions of ancient china
Secondary source as the text is written
Taoism
Analysis of Sources 1. Taoism: The quest for immortality (John Blofeld) This book is obviously a secondary source although it references some primary sources mainly the Tao Te Ching. The author of the book is a published author and therefore it can be assumed that the information inside is relatively accurate as a secondary source can get. The only possibility of bias is that the author is a follower of another religion, even so the bias will be minimal. 2. World Religious Reference Library
This source is a secondary source which contains references to primary sources. The book is written by a multitude of authors and as so the bias should be minimized as each would review each others writing. The information will be as accurate as a secondary source can be
3. Tao Te Ching
This source was authored by Lao-Tzu himself and therefore is a primary source. The source outlines the practices of Taoism and offers explanation. The only bias and innacuracies of information possible in this source is through translation error as the original source was in chinese.
4. “Taoism” (plato.stanford.edu/entries/taoism/)
Secondary source. Is highly reliable due to the publisher being the world renowned Stanford university. Only bias possible is Author Bias which when writing for a prestigious institution as Stanford the bias will be as minimal as possible to raise the standard of work.
5. ‘Taoism’ (http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm)
Secondary source. Reliability of source is questionable due to lack of references and primary sources present in the text. Author Bias is unknown but possible. 6. Introducing eastern philosophy
The author of the text has been published previously which lends authenticity to the text. Bias is unlikely due to the text being published but possible. Source is a secondary source.
7. Religions of ancient china
Secondary source as the text is written