The course will begin with a brief discussion of the early Buddhist view of individual existence. Its purpose is to clarify the background against which the Buddhist teachings on the theory and practice of moral life are presented. This will be followed up with a detailed study of the following topics:
1. The significance of Buddhist ethical teachings in the context of Buddhism as a non-theistic religion.
2. The threefold foundation of Buddhist ethics: kammavada (advocacy and justification of moral life), kiriyavada (recognition of the efficacy of moral actions), and viriyavada (role of human effort in the practice of moral life).
3. Criteria of moral evaluation: the psychological criterion and the consequential criterion.
4. Guidelines for moral determination and moral action.
5. The role of the knowledge-factor in the practice of moral life.
6. The problem of one’s own good (atta-hita, sadattha) and the good of others (para-hita). Is the early Buddhist ideal of Arahanthood individualistic and self-centred?
7. The psychological basis of Buddhist ethics: the three levels of moral evil (anusaya, pariyutthana, vitikkama) and the threefold training (sila, samadhi, panna).
8. The Noble Eightfold Path and the practice of the Buddhist moral life.
9. The significance of the Noble Eightfold Path as the MiddlaWay (majjhima patipada) and the Doctrine of Dependent Origination as the “Middle Doctrine” (“majjhima desana”).
10. Buddhist ethics and Nibbana. Why Nibbana is described as cessation of kamma (kamma-nirodha).
（下学期课程英语授课）
导 师： Prof. Y.Karunadasa
导师简介：
Professor Y Karunadasa is an internationally known authority on Pali Abhidhamma and Theravada Buddhism. He obtained his PhD from the University of London, and his published thesis, entitled Buddhist Analysis of Matter, has been reviewed as “the final word on the subject for many years to come.” He was twice the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and for 11 years served as the Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the same university. （Y Karunadasa 教授是国际知名的巴利文系毗昙学及上座部佛学权威。他以《佛教对色法的分析》(Buddhist Analysis of Matter)荣获英国伦敦大学的博士学位。该论文出版后博得好评；曾被评为“于未来多年将能继续成为此论题之定论”。他曾两次受聘为斯里兰卡克兰尼亚大学文学院院长；并担任过同校巴利文及佛学研究生院院长，任期长达十一年。）
课程编号：
开课日期：2004年09月20日
堂 数：约16堂
导 师： Prof. Y.Karunadasa
导师简介：
Professor Y Karunadasa is an internationally known authority on Pali Abhidhamma and Theravada Buddhism. He obtained his PhD from the University of London, and his published thesis, entitled Buddhist Analysis of Matter, has been reviewed as “the final word on the subject for many years to come.” He was twice the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and for 11 years served as the Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the same university. （Y Karunadasa 教授是国际知名的巴利文系毗昙学及上座部佛学权威。他以《佛教对色法的分析》(Buddhist Analysis of Matter)荣获英国伦敦大学的博士学位。该论文出版后博得好评；曾被评为“于未来多年将能继续成为此论题之定论”。他曾两次受聘为斯里兰卡克兰尼亚大学文学院院长；并担任过同校巴利文及佛学研究生院院长，任期长达十一年。）
课程编号：
开课日期：2004年09月20日
堂 数：约16堂