相較於佛教「論」典中，論師們以極為哲學化與專技化的方式，闡揚佛教經典當中的哲學義理；在佛教「經」典中論理部分不多，但是透過各種故事、譬喻的形式，各宗門後來論述出來的哲理早就生動具象地被闡述出來了。故事與譬喻的形式除了有利於傳播之外，更重要地，佛教哲學中被主要關注的核心問題，都不是經驗的問題，多為涉及經驗範圍與界限的認知論與形上學問題，許多問題本身就是出自於文字與概念運用的局限性本身，因此論理的「推論」型態本就不是適合的表達方式。在佛教因明學（邏輯）與量論（認知論）還未發展的狀況下，「辯證」型態（如龍樹的歸謬法）難以廣傳。佛典敘事者不能直接述說、推論，又不能以辯證反證，且又不願沈溺於玄妙辭藻的堆疊中，透過故事與譬喻來標指不可指之明月，自然成為佛典中常見的敘事手法。

本課程以seminar形式，帶領上課同學依照不同哲學主題，選讀佛典故事，透過古典漢文的共同譯註與評析，吸取此些佛典故事與譬喻中難以言喻的哲理，並從中發展、探討相關的佛教哲學議題。

Compared with Buddhist scriptures, commentators expound the philosophical principles in Buddhist classics in an extremely philosophical and professional manner. There are not many theoretical parts in Buddhist scriptures, but through various stories and parables, the philosophies later discussed by each sect have been vividly and concretely explained. In addition to being conducive to dissemination in the form of stories and parables, more importantly, the core issues that are mainly concerned in Buddhist philosophy are not empirical issues, but are mostly epistemological and metaphysical issues involving the scope and boundaries of experience. Many problems themselves arise from the limitations of the use of words and concepts, so the "inference" type of reasoning is not a suitable way of expression. In a situation where Buddhist philosophy (logic) and quantitative theory (cognitology) have not yet developed, it is difficult for "dialectical" methods (such as Nagarjuna's method of reductio ad absurdum) to spread widely. Narrators of Buddhist scriptures cannot directly describe or infer, nor can they use dialectical counter-evidence, and are unwilling to indulge in the accumulation of mysterious words. Using stories and metaphors to refer to the indescribable bright moon has naturally become a common narrative technique in Buddhist scriptures.

This course uses a seminar format to lead students to read Buddhist stories according to different philosophical themes. Through joint translation, annotation and analysis of classical Chinese, they can absorb the indescribable philosophies in these Buddhist stories and parables, and develop and explore related Buddhist philosophical issues from them.

主要文獻依據中華電子佛典協會（CBETA）數位大藏經經文為主，包含故事所出之經文以及相關的古典論著文獻。由於故事情節與民間流傳甚廣，許多現代白話翻譯與詮釋也可供參考，這方面鼓勵同學多方蒐集，但是最終我們會回歸大藏之中之古典漢文，以為依歸。
中華電子佛典協會線上閱讀：https://www.cbeta.org/

The main documents are based on the digital Tripitaka scriptures of the Chinese Electronic Buddhist Scripture Association (CBETA), including the scriptures from which the story comes and related classical treatises. Since the storyline and folklore are widely circulated, many modern vernacular translations and interpretations are also available for reference. In this regard, students are encouraged to collect from various sources, but in the end we will return to the classical Chinese in the Tibetan Tibet as our refuge.
Online reading from the Chinese Electronic Buddhist Scriptures Association: https://www.cbeta.org/