课程目的为使同学有系统地熟悉道德哲学一些重要著作，并且归纳这些观点来研究文学经典。这项课程藉由四位哲学家探讨道德哲学思辩的历史脉络：其中二位是古哲世界的代表，另外两位是传承文艺复兴的近世哲学代表。前者是柏拉图和亚里斯多德，后者是康德与约翰弥尔。我们将设法参照四位代表的理论并且啮合霍布斯的哲学观权充作古老和现代思想，一窥康德与弥儿之高下。进一步分析哲学假说的新潮流，力争柏拉图和亚里斯多德应有的定位。

The aim of this subject is to acquaint the student with some important works of systematic ethical philosophy and to bring to bear the viewpoint of those works on the study of classic works of literature. This subject will trace the history of ethical speculation in systematic philosophy by identifying four major positions: two from the ancient world and the two most important traditions of ethical philosophy since the renaissance. The two ancient positions will be represented by Plato and Aristotle, the two modern positions by Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill. We will try to understand these four positions as engaged in a rivalry with one another, and we will also engage with the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, which offers a bridge between ancient and modern conceptions and provides a source for the rivalry between the viewpoints of Kant and Mill. Further, we will be mindful that the modern positions are subject to criticism today by new currents of philosophical speculation, some of which argue for a return to the positions of Plato and Aristotle.