사단(四端)에 대한 주리(主理)적 해석 - 퇴계와 농암의 논의를 중심으로 -

Abstract

Mengzi established “sadan”(四端; the Four Beginnings) as the most fundamental human virtues. Its underlying concept is illustrated by Mengzi’s parable of “a child about to fall into a well”. Based on the intrinsic feeling of compassion that anyone would have on seeing “a child about to fall into a well,” Mengzi demonstrates that human beings have an innate virtue of ren(仁; benevolence). This parable embraces two aspects of sadan : the image(象) of absolute goodness intrinsic to the human mind and its spontaneous manifestation. This paper aims to shed light on sadan, focusing on the arguments of two illustrious Korean neo-Confucian scholars who sought to thoroughly explore these two aspects of sadan as explained by Mengzi: Toegye(退溪) Yi Hwang(李滉, 1501-1570), and Nong-am(農巖) Kim Chang Hyeop(金昌協, 1651-1708). Both scholars saw limitations in explaining the essence of sadan with an ontological approach and adopted axiological approaches, focusing on its interpretation based on li(理). The main difference in the interpretation of sadan between these two scholars lies in the layers of argument leading to their respective li-based implications. Toegye sought to elucidate the essence of sadan from a thoroughly axiological perspective and established the proposition of “the mutual issuance”(互發) by neatly distinguishing not only the meaning(所指), but also the origin(所從來) of sadan from chiljeong(七情; the Seven Emotions). Nong-am criticized Toegye’s proposition of mutual issuance, and holds fast to the proposition stipulating that “only gi issues and li rides on it”(氣發理乘一途說) established Yulgok(栗谷) Yi I(李珥, 1536-1584), the founder of Yulgok School, as the basic position, and sought to unlock the essence of sadan as intended by Mengzi by explaining sadan conceptually based on li.