本課程討論演化論與倫理學的關聯。修課同學應注意：目前的課程規劃仍有可能變動，具體課程內容與評分方式將以第一堂課上的說明為準，因此同學務必出席第一堂 課。按照目前規劃，我們主要依據 Scott James 介紹演化倫理學的著作來思考演化與道德間的關係。如果我們擱置宗教中的創世論，「人類是演化而來的生物」已是得到充分理論支持的主張。因此，人類的各種能力都可能與演化有所關聯，其中也包含道德認知與道德行動的能力。然而，釐清這些潛在關聯並非易事，因為我們還必須問：所謂「道德認知與道德行動的能力」究竟是哪些能力？此外，道德原則是依賴這些能力而成立，抑或這些能力僅僅使得我們掌握了某些獨立於人的道德原則？這些問題是有久遠傳統的哲學問題。以這些哲學問題為理論背景，我們可以進一步問：什麼樣的倫理可能提供自然選擇上的優勢，因此也可能是人類實際遵循的倫理？演化倫理學如何避免過往所謂「社會達爾文主義」的理論錯誤？在生物意義上自然的狀態又與在道德上值得追求的狀態有何關聯？透過這些討論，我們嘗試探索演化論對倫理學的意義。

This course discusses the connection between evolutionary theory and ethics. Students taking the course should note: the current course plan is still subject to change, and the specific course content and grading methods will be subject to the instructions in the first class, so students must attend the first class. According to the current plan, we will mainly rely on Scott James's work on evolutionary ethics to think about the relationship between evolution and morality. If we put aside the creationism in religion, "human beings are evolved creatures" is a proposition that has sufficient theoretical support. Therefore, various human abilities may be related to evolution, including the abilities of moral cognition and moral action. However, clarifying these potential connections is not easy, because we must also ask: What exactly are the so-called "capacities for moral cognition and moral action"? Furthermore, do moral principles depend on these abilities, or do these abilities merely enable us to master certain moral principles that are independent of people? These questions are philosophical questions with a long tradition. With these philosophical questions as a theoretical background, we can further ask: What kind of ethics might provide a natural selection advantage and therefore might be an ethics that humans actually follow? How can evolutionary ethics avoid the theoretical errors of the so-called "social Darwinism" in the past? How does a biologically natural state relate to a morally worthy state? Through these discussions, we try to explore the implications of evolutionary theory for ethics.

James, Scott M. 2011. An Introduction to Evolutionary Ethics. Chichester, UK: WileyBlackwell.

James, Scott M. 2011. An Introduction to Evolutionary Ethics. Chichester, UK: WileyBlackwell.