本課程以《老子》為核心文本，從哲學問題意識出發，探討其形上學、倫理學與政治哲學之理論結構。相較於將《老子》視為人生智慧、處世格言或養生思想的傳統閱讀方式，本課程將其視為一套具有嚴密理論關聯的哲學體系，並透過文本分析與論證重構的方法，重新檢視其重要哲學主張。

課程首先探討「道」作為萬物生成根源的意義，分析其不可言說性、生成性及其與「有」、「無」之間的關係，進而說明《老子》如何建立其宇宙論與存在論架構。在此基礎上，課程將進一步討論「自然」、「無為」與「反者道之動」等核心概念，分析這些概念究竟是對世界運作方式的描述，抑或同時具有規範性意涵，並探究《老子》如何從宇宙論主張推導出倫理與政治主張。

課程後半將聚焦於知識批判、聖人理想、政治秩序、小國寡民、戰爭與權力等議題，探討《老子》對人類社會與政治生活的理解。同時也將分析其思想中的若干重要理論張力，例如若萬物皆依循自然生成，則何以出現善惡之分；若天地不以人類價值為中心，則政治秩序與統治正當性的基礎何在；若否定固定價值，則是否仍可能提出倫理判準與行動原則。

透過原典閱讀、課堂討論與論證分析，學生將學習以哲學方法處理中國經典文本，培養概念分析、論證重構與批判思考能力，並理解《老子》思想如何與當代形上學、倫理學及政治哲學的重要議題展開對話。課程目標不僅在於掌握《老子》的思想內容，更在於訓練學生將經典文本視為活的哲學資源，進而發展獨立思考與哲學論證的能力。

This course takes "Laozi" as the core text, starting from the awareness of philosophical issues, and explores its theoretical structure of metaphysics, ethics and political philosophy. Compared with the traditional way of reading "Laozi" as life wisdom, life mottos or health-preserving ideas, this course treats it as a philosophical system with strict theoretical connections, and re-examines its important philosophical propositions through text analysis and argument reconstruction methods.

The course first explores the significance of "Tao" as the source of the generation of all things, analyzes its ineffability, generation and its relationship with "being" and "nothing", and then explains how "Laozi" establishes its cosmological and ontological framework. On this basis, the course will further discuss core concepts such as "nature", "inaction" and "the movement of the opposite way", analyze whether these concepts describe the way the world works, or whether they also have normative implications, and explore how Laozi derives ethical and political propositions from cosmological claims.

The second half of the course will focus on topics such as intellectual criticism, ideals of saints, political order, small countries and few people, war and power, and explore Laozi's understanding of human society and political life. At the same time, some important theoretical tensions in his thoughts will also be analyzed. For example, if everything is generated naturally, how can there be distinction between good and evil? If the world is not centered on human values, what is the basis for the legitimacy of political order and governance? If fixed values ​​are denied, is it still possible to propose ethical standards and principles of action?

Through original text reading, class discussion and argument analysis, students will learn to use philosophical methods to deal with Chinese classic texts, develop conceptual analysis, argument reconstruction and critical thinking skills, and understand how the thoughts of Laozi dialogue with important issues in contemporary metaphysics, ethics and political philosophy. The goal of the course is not only to master the ideological content of "Laozi", but also to train students to regard classic texts as living philosophical resources, and then develop the ability of independent thinking and philosophical argumentation.

1. 陳鼓應：《老子今註今譯》，臺北：臺灣商務印書館。
2. 劉笑敢：《老子古今：五種對勘與析評引論》，北京：中國社會科學出版社。

1. Chen Guying: "Laozi's Modern Commentary and Modern Translation", Taipei: Taiwan Commercial Press.
2. Liu Xiaogan: "Laozi Ancient and Modern: Five Comparisons and Analysis and Introduction", Beijing: China Social Sciences Press.