The Primacy of Li (Principle) in the NeoConfucian Philosophy of Zhu Xi: Significance for Contemporary Korean Society

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Among the Confucian and Buddhist philosophical heritages of East Asia, Zhu Xi’s school of nature and principle (lixue 理學 in Chinese, seongnihak 性理學 in Korean), with its philosophy of the primacy of li (principle), provides valuable resources for a new universal ethics due to its rationalistic metaphysical characteristic that goes beyond instrumental or functional reason. The defining traits of lixue involve a metaphysical philosophical thinking that places importance on the making of distinctions in the levels of being. The distinctive characteristic of Zhu’s metaphysics is connected invariably with his philosophy of the primacy of li, which gives precedence to li 理 over qi 氣 (‘material force’ or ‘psycho-physical matter’). By positing the objective existence of a normative truth embedded in xing 性 (seong in Korean; ‘moral [human] nature’), the NeoConfucianism of Zhu Xi seeks to secure the moral basis of not only human society but the entire ecosphere. Zhu Xi’s philosophy of the primacy of li may serve to reinvigorate the ethical foundation of contemporary Korean society, which despite current materialistic-physicalist tendencies is marked by manifestly deep Neo-Confucian spirituality and religiosity.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Zhu, Xi, "朱熹集" Sichuan Jiaoyu chubanshe 1996

2 Zhu, Xi, "朱子语类" Zhonghua shuju 1986

3 Zhu, Xi, "朱子全书" Shanghai guji chubanshe 2002

4 Zhang, Zai, "張載集" Zhonghua shuju 1978

5 Cheng, Hao, "二程集" Zhonghua shuju 1981

6 Han, Jung Gil, "Zhu Xi’s Critique of the Buddhist Tenet the ‘Operation is the Nature’ and of the Theory of the Mind’s Self-examination" 116 : 1-35, 2002

7 김한상, "Zhu Xi's Metaphysical System and the Role of Taiji (Great Ultimate)" 유교문화연구소 (20) : 1-24, 2013

8 Hösle, Vittorio, "The Current Crisis and the Responsibility of Philosophy" Verlag C.H. Beck 1990

9 Chen, Lai, "Study of Zhu Xi’s Philosophy" Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe 1987

10 Kinoshita, Tetsuya, "Shushi—hataraki to tsutome no tetsugaku (Zhu Xi—the Philosophy of ‘Having Work to Do’ and ‘Applying Oneself ’)" Iwanami shoten 2009

11 Kinoshita, Tetsuya, "Shushigaku (Zhu Xi Studies)" Kodansha 2013

12 Hall, David L, "Review of Concerning Creativity: A Comparison of Whitehead, Neville, and Chu Hsi by John Berthrong" 54 (54): 571-576, 2004

13 Van Norden, "Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy" Seven Bridges Press 111-155, 2001

14 Whitehead, Alfred North, "Process and Reality" The Free Press 1979

15 Hösle, Vittorio, "Objective Idealism, Ethics, and Politics" University of Notre Dame Press 1998

16 Mengzi, "Mencius" Chinese University Press 2003

17 Yi, Donghui, "Master Zhu—Source of East Asian Worldview" Sungkyunkwan University Press 2007

18 Yun, Sa-Soon, "Korean Confucianism reconsidered" 39 : 6-39, 1993

19 Lee, Sang Ik, "Is Reconstruction or Deconstruction of Neo-Confucianism?—A Critique of Yi Seunghwan’s ‘Horizontal Arrangement of Signs and Vertical Arrangement of Signs" 133 : 293-330, 2013

20 Sellars, Wilfrid, "In the Space of Reasons: Selected Essays of Wilfrid Sellars" Harvard University Press 2007

21 Lee, Seung-Hwan, "Hoengseol-gwa suseol (Horizontal Arrangement of Signs and Vertical Arrangement of Signs)" Humanist 2012

22 Imamichi, Tomonobu, "History of Western Philosophy" Kodansha 1987

23 Fung, Yu-lan, "History of Chinese Philosophy. 2 vols" Princeton University Press 1953

24 Fung, Yu-lan, "History of Chinese Philosophy" Sanlian shudian 1992

25 Han, Hyeongjo, "From Zhu Xi to Jeong Yakyong" Segyesa 1996

26 Crane, Tim, "Fraught with Ought" 30 (30): 33-35, 2008

27 Han, Hyeongjo, "Eastern and Western Philosophical Approaches to Metaphysics" The Academy of Korean Studies 209-244, 1998

28 Ivanhoe, Philip J., "Confucian Moral Self Cultivation" Hackett Publishing Company 2000

29 Watson, Walter, "Chu Hsi, Plato and Aristotle" 5 (5): 149-174, 1978

30 Son, Yeongsik, "An Essay on the Metaphysics of the School of Nature and Principle" Ulsan University Press 2007

31 Schumacher, E. F., "A Guide for the Perplexed" Harper Perennial 2004