Unit 1 The Christian Bible

· Genesis

· Exodus

· Gospel According to Matthew

· Acts of the Apostles

· Compare with China

· Chinese Creation Stories

· 汉译《圣经》之考察

· Supplementary Reading

· Is Religion Just Organized Superstition? Is Superstition Always Religious?

· How Is Science Different from Religion?

· Why I Am Not a Christian

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 2 Greek & Roman Sages (1)

· Socrates: The Apology

· Plato: The Republic

· Compare with China

· Axial Age

· 苏格拉底与孔子的言说方式比较

· Supplementary Reading

· 雅典凭什么判苏格拉底死刑

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 3 Greek & Roman Sages (2)

· Aristotle: The Politics

· Cicero: On the Laws

· Compare with China

· Great Learning and The Mean

· Supplementary Reading

· Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 4 Medieval Christian Church Fathers

· St. Augustine: The Enchiridion

· Thomas Aquinas: Summa Contra Gentiles

· Compare with China

· Neo-Confucianism and Later Confucian Philosophy

· Supplementary Reading

· Common Characteristics of Scholasticism

· St. Thomas Aquinas

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 5 Renaissance Adventurers

· Christopher Columbus: Journal and Letter

· Nicolò Machiavelli: The Prince

· Compare with China

· The Rise and Fall of 15th Century Chinese Seapower

· Supplementary Reading

· No Cheers for Columbus

· Conservatives Hail for Columbus

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 6 Religious Reformation

· Desiderius Erasmus: A Pilgrimage for Religion’s Sake

· Martin Luther: An Open Letter to the Christian Nobility

· John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion

· Compare with China

· Wang Yangming and Matteo Ricci’s Progression to China

· Supplementary Reading

· Excerpts of the 95 Theses

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 7 Modern Scientific Thinking (1)

· Francis Bacon: Novum Organum

· René Descartes: Discourse on Method

· Compare with China

· Matteo Ricci: The Art of Printing

· Supplementary Reading

· Calculating Machines in China and Europe in the 17th Century — The Western View

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 8 Modern Scientific Thinking (2)

· Galileo Galilei: Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina

· Isaac Newton: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

· Optics

· Compare with China

· Development of Science in Ancient China

· Supplementary Reading

· Critical Thinking

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 9 Modern Political Science

· Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan

· John Locke: Of Civil Government

· Compare with China

· Confucianism and Human Dignity: Toward a Balanced View of Rights and Duty

· Locke Talking about China and the Chinese

· Supplementary Reading

· Political Controversies in the 17th Century England

· Charles I: Speech Before Execution (January 30, 1649)

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 10 Classical Liberalism

· Adam Smith: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

· John Stuart Mill: On Liberty

· Compare with China

· Western Images of China

· Qianlong Meets Macartney: Collision of Two World Views

· Supplementary Reading

· The Declaration of Independence

· United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 11 Anti-Liberalism

· Jean-Jacques Rousseau: A Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences

· Friedrich Nietzsche: The Will to Power

· Compare with China

· From Western Liberalism to Asian Communitarianism

· Supplementary Reading

· Edmund Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France

· Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 12 Evolutionists

· Thomas Malthus: An Essay on the Principle of Population

· Charles Darwin: The Origin of Species (1859)

· Charles Darwin: The Descent of Man

· Compare with China

· The Warning Voice of Social Darwinism in Early 20th Century China

· Supplementary Reading

· Autobiography of Charles Darwin

· Piltdown Man Forgery

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 13 Socialism and Communism

· Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: Manifesto of the Communist Party

· Eduard Bernstein: Evolutionary Socialism

· Compare with China

· Karl Marx on China

· 《共产党宣言》在中国的早期翻译、出版和传播

· Supplementary Reading

· Study Guide for The Communist Manifesto

· V. I. Lenin: Marxism and Revisionism

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 14 Early 20th Century: Man & Society

· Sigmund Freud: An Outline of Psychoanalysis

· John Dewey: Liberalism and Social Action

· Compare with China

· John Dewey as a Learner in China

· Supplementary Reading

· Freud on the Couch

· Early Education in China

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 15 Science & Religion

· Bertrand Russell: A Free Man’s Worship

· Alfred North Whitehead: Science and the Modern World (1925)

· Compare with China

· Bertrand Russell: Chinese and Western Civilization Contrasted

· Supplementary Reading

· Alfred North Whitehead on Education

· Questions for Discussion

Unit 16 Man & Woman: Modern Existence

· Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism

· Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex

· Compare with China

· The First Glimpses of China

· Supplementary Reading

· Existentialism

· Virginia Woolf: A Room of One’s Own

· Questions for Discussion