This chapter highlights the significance of Yi I 李珥 and his contribution to the development of Korean Neo-Confucianism. Yulgok was a “synthesizer” in his approach to the some fundamental issues and controversies that dominated the sixteenth century Joseon Neo-Confucianism. Some of most controversial issues that Yulgok dealt with were the relationship between “principle” or i/li 理 and “vital force” or gi/qi 氣, the famous “four-seven” debates, the problem of relating the “human mind” and the “dao-mind”, and the idea (...) of understanding the human in relation to the cosmos. Yulgok dealt each of these vital issues with his unique non-dualistic approach which synthesized the conceptual polarity that caused serious debates in the Korean Neo-Confucian circle. The concepts such as i/li and gi/qi, eum/yin and yang, the “human mind” and the “dao-mind,” for example, were understood by some leading Confucian scholars including Yi Hwang 李滉 structured dualistically. Yulgok thought that although these ideas appeared to be conceptually dualistic, they were, in fact, related to each other with an intrinsic ontological unity based on the same reality. However, Yulgok made a clear distinction between different manifestations of the same ontological substance. For example, Yulgok discussed about the mysterious relationship of i and gi: “The mystery of i and gi is difficult to see or to talk. The origin of i is one, the origin of gi is also one…. gi does not part from i, and i does not part from gi. This being the case, i and gi are one.” It is essential to understand Yulgok’s non-dualistic view of reality. For Yulgok, reality was profoundly relational. For him relation was not simply a connection or an external binding but it was fundamentally an intrinsic unity of beings or entities by stating that one cannot exist without the other. In this respect, Yulgok was a non-dualistic thinker who understood reality not in the framework of dichotomy but in the intrinsic unity of i and gi and the “four beginnigs” and the “seven feelings”, etc. Yulgok’s anthropology, ontology, and cosmology were based on his synthetic and comprehensive approach to the critical issues of Korean Neo-Confucianism. This chapter is a brief summary of Yulgok’s life and thoughts in relationship to each other to observe his intellectual development in light of his personal growth. (shrink)

This article starts by noting the general lack of acknowledgment of alternative traditions in the dominant western sustainability discourse in education. After critically analyzing the western human–nature relationship in the context of Enlightenment, modernity and colonial expansion, this article introduces two non-western ecological discourses from Eurasia and Asia, Noöspherism and Neo-Confucianism, which offer clear contrasts to the western sustainability framework. Using theoretical argumentations, the article goes on to examine the cosmological and ontological categories expounded by Vladimir Vernadsky of Russia and (...) Yulgok Yi of Korea, whose philosophical foundations with unique foci on the anthropocosmic and cosmoanthropic types of human–nature relationships could well be alternatives and/or additions to the dominant western discourse. The article concludes with a twofold comparison: between Eurasian and Confucian heritages, and these two with the mainstream western ecological discourse. (shrink)

v. 1. Sŏngnihak pʻyŏn -- v. 2. Kyŏngse sasang pʻyŏn.

이 글은 율곡의 공공성 리더십 정신을 그 이념과 천리(天理) 구현의 정치 및 언론소통 의 문제를 중심으로 검토한 것이다. 이 글의 내용은 대체로 다음과 같다. (1) 율곡의 공공성 리더십의 이념은 성리학적인 보편적 천리의 구현에 있다고 말할 수 있다. 율곡에게서 성인은 이 보편적 천리를 구현한 인간으로서, 공공성 리더십이 성공을 거두기 위해서는 현실군주가 성인이 되지 않으면 안 된다. 그런데 성인이란 ‘수기치인’을 자신의 임무로 받아들여야 하는 존재이다. 그런데 아직 성인이 되지 못한 현실군주는 자기 자신을 닦는 공부에 게을러서는 안 된다. 이러한 점 때문에 율곡은 군주에게 (...) 철저한 자기 절제를 요청하며 도덕적 책무를 부여함으로써 공공성 리더십의 필요성을 각인시킨다. (2) 율곡은 공공성 리더십을 실현하는 궁극목표로 천치(天治), 즉 천리 구현의 정치를 제창한다. 그것은 사랑을 실천하는 어진 정치(仁政)를 구현하는 것으로서, 이기심을 배제 한 공공성 확보를 실현하는 정치이다. 이른바 동양적 왕도정치를 현실화하는 것이 천리 구 현의 정치라고 할 수 있다. 이러한 정치를 구현하기 위해서 군주는 자애 또는 인이라고 표 현되는 사랑을 비롯한 검약, 겸허의 정신을 적극 실천하지 않으면 안 된다. (3) 율곡은 언론소통 문제의 공공성 리더십에 관해 주목한다. 이와 관련하여 율곡은 ‘국시(國是)’와 ‘공론(公論)’을 제창한다. 이들은 공공성을 담보한 언론이다. 공론은 모든 사 람이 옳다고 하는 의론인데, 이것의 소재는 국시에 있다고 한다. 이러한 규정은 다분히 유 학적 보편 인심론에 근거를 둔 것임을 알 수 있다. 유학적 보편 인심론은 천리에 맞닿아 있다. 이러한 점에서 율곡의 언론소통 문제는 천리 구현의 정치와 밀접하게 연관되어 있음 이 확인된다. 결과적으로 천리가 구현된 언론은 투명하고 개방적일 수밖에 없다. 그 결과 자연스런 소통이 가능하다. 율곡은 공공성에 기초한 이러한 언론소통을 제안한 것이다. (shrink)

성리학의 이기론을 체계화한 16세기 학자 율곡 이이 의 생애와 사상, 학문을 살핀 저서.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that Yulgok's sincere intention〔誠意〕 implies the characteristics of virtue ethics. This paper aims to establish the meaningful discussion that Yulgok's sincere intention goes beyond the limits of normative ethics, duty ethics, or the constraints of knowledge, and is significant in pursuing the goal of individual's daily moral practice and well-being. Virtue ethics place emphasis on the will for the prosperity of the community, well-being, the virtues, character, and the cultivation of (...) the agent. The moral agent can intentionally and repeatedly engage in virtuous actions through habituation thereby transforming their character. Yulgok's sincere intention aims to derive natural moral conduct through everyday will for practice, with the goal of cultivating virtuous dispositions. In other words, humans possess intellectual abilities and the virtues of renyilizhi〔仁義禮智〕. By cultivating these virtues, they attain an ideal state of character where virtuous actions can naturally manifest regardless of time and place. When aspiring to virtuous actions, the moral agent must be capable of comparing and analyzing various cases to derive rational judgments and conducts. This can be confirmed through Yulgok's interpretation of yi〔意〕 separated by nianlusi〔念慮思〕. Furthermore, Yulgok emphasized the importance of sincere mind〔實心〕. This is a driving force for appropriate judgment and moral choices making the virtue of renyilizhi〔仁義禮智〕 and impartiality. Therefore Yulgok's sincere intention provides a meaningful discussion explaining the interdependence between intellectual virtues and moral virtues required in the process of habituation. (shrink)