‘한국 성리학의 독자성’ 관점으로 본 순선(純善)의 확보 과제 — 퇴계 이황과 우암 송시열의 사례 —

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate what attempts were made by two Korean Neo-Confucians, who considered a task is to secure the area of pure goodness within the mind, made to present alternatives. Neo-Confucianism, established by Chu Hsi in the 13th century, had an issue that it was unclear whether the area of pure goodness was secured within the mind. It seems that Chu Hsi himself was unaware of this issue, as it was first brought to the surface by Lee T’oe-gye in the 16th century. Lee T’oe-gye exerted every effort throughout his life to prove the pure goodness of the Four Beginnings, the emotion of Yi-fa. However, a century later, Song U-am was convinced that it was impossible to secure pure goodness in the area of Yi-fa, and he made his best efforts to secure the area of pure goodness in the mind of Wei-fa. According to the author, Lee T’oe-gye tried to prove the Four Beginnings, which form part of the emotion of Yi-fa, as the area of pure goodness, while Song U-am tried to prove the mind of Wei-fa as the mental state that preexisted Yi-fa as the sphere of pure goodness.