다산과 주희의 ‘기질(氣質)’개념과 그 의미

Abstract

Both Zhu Xi and Tasan Jeong Yagyong claim themselves as inheriting Mencian theory of good human nature. However, their definition of human 'nature' differ in contents: one is the moral principle in its fullest sense and the other is mere potentiality for achieving or actualizing goodness. For Zhu Xi, human nature is purely good, but there is still evil in the world due to differences in physical temperament (qi-zhi): those who are endowed with pure and clear temperament will likely to deliver and display their moral nature, while those with murky and turbid temperament will struggle to do the same. From this perspective, Zhu Xi then seems to espouse deterministic moral outlook. On the other hand, Zhu Xi makes it firm that for most people the given temperament is the object of change by Confucian moral cultivation: with enough effort, everyone can recover one's given moral nature. Still, the amount and quality of effort individuals have to put in order to overcome their given temperament cannot but vary, which makes Zhu Xi's moral theory a kind of soft determinism. Tasan, on the contrary, ascertains that inborn temperament has nothing to do with moral practice. Physical temperament may determine one's speech, calculation for profit, or artistic performances, but not moral decision: whether one is Yao, Shun, or a layman, the inner agony and strife as one faces a moral conflict are the same. If one's given condition does affect one's moral decision and practice, then humans can no longer be held responsible for one's action. Just as we cannot define Zhu Xi's moral theory that accepts a certain degree of influence from one's innate condition as determinism or fatalism, we cannot identify Tasan's theory that stresses the free will or free decision of humans in terms of existentialism. For Tasan, humans are not independent existences but beings who try in their own terms and in their own decisions to actualize the Mandate of Heaven. Whether their efforts do work out as they wish and aim still depends on Heaven. On this aspect, Tasan's moral theory is closer to traditional Confucianism which states: "Man proposes, Heaven disposes."