A Task of Political Philosophy for Korean Society in Transition : In Search of an Ontological Basis for a Korean Type of Democratic Community

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper aims to identify a task of political philosophy in the context of the present transitory Korean society by introducing the logic of self-reflection to political philosophy, and to explore an ontological basis for a Korean type of democratic political community which will be congruent with the present Korean culture. A main task of Korean political philosophy in present Korea is to grope for political principles on the basis of which Korean people can lead their own good lives, and this task is nothing but to search for an ideal synthesis of the unique moral character of Korean selves and universalist modern institutions. A methodical doubt on the congruity between the present main institutions such as democracy and market and moral characteristics of Korean people is the starting point of my paper. I will try to reformulate an ideal notion of Korean self immanent in the present Korean culture by invoking the concept "the individual within community" which has been widely used in contemporary western political philosophy, with a view to exploring an ontological basis of Korean political philosophy for the future.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. Introduction
• Ⅱ. Silence of Korean Political Philosophy after Independence
• Ⅲ. The Ontology of Liberal Democracy and the Ontology of Confucianism
• Ⅳ. Modern Korean Culture and its Ontological Implications: One Interpretation of "the Individual within Community"
• Ⅴ. Concluding Remarks
• REFERENCES