플로티노스와 해월 삼경사상의 존재론적 함의 = Ontological Implications of Plotinos’s Philosophy and Haewol’s Samgyeong Thought

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to explore the philosophical foundation of an integrative worldview that can overcome the dualistic division between spirit and matter, God and human, and humanity and nature by conducting a comparative analysis of the monistic ontologies proposed by Plotinos, a central thinker of Western Neoplatonism, and Haewol Choi Si-hyong of Donghak. Despite their differing cultural contexts, both thinkers resonate in their attempts to comprehensively understand the ontological issues of “the One and the many,” “transcendence and immanence,” and “unity and division.” The study focuses on Plotinos’s emanative ontology of the One-Nous-Soul and Haewol’s Samgyeong thought, which unfolds through reverence for Heaven(敬天), humanity(敬人), and all beings(敬物). For Plotinos, the soul serves as a mediator between the intelligible and the sensible realms, performing both the ascending motion(epistrophe) and descending motion(proodos), thereby linking the transcendent One with the empirical world.
In contrast, Haewol’s concept of reverence(Gyeong) extends worship of the transcendent Divine(Cheonju Hanul) to respect for human beings and nature, presenting a practical monism that unites God, humanity, and nature into a single living organism through the principle of Cheonji Giwha(the vital transformation of Heaven and Earth).
The results of this study reveal that while both Plotinos’s transcendent One-centered philosophy and Haewol’s immanent theology of Cheonju share a monistic structure, the former emphasizes metaphysical unity, whereas the latter culminates in an ethical and life-centered praxis. In particular, Haewol’s Samgyeong thought can be reinterpreted as a philosophical alternative for the contemporary ecological crisis by proposing a way for humanity to realize ontological unity through harmonizing with nature and affirming its divinity within lived reality.