『논어』 속 군자관의 논리 구조와 정치의식

Abstract

Many people in the modern society tend to put the most weight on their owninterests as those in the period of Chun Qiu, when Confucius lived, did. However, the limited commodities and chances compel one’s pursue of exclusive interest tocollide with that of another. The idea of neo-liberalism widespread around the globe positively aggravates an individual’s egocentric tendency. The idea of neo-liberalism based on the privatization of the means of production proliferates the abundance of minority with power and poverty of powerless majority on account of ‘the centralization of privatization.’ Such a society cannot preserve even the least amount of human rights, for it deals with man not as a goal but as a means. Subsequently, the polarization and alienation of such a society amplifyconflicts. Confucius regards man as a moral existence and treats him not as a means but as a goal. From such a point of view, all men are equal in a moral aspect. The Analects is based on such a view on man. The great man is neither a perfect man like a saint nor an ordinary man. He is a man who exerts to take after a saint with outstanding morality and ability. It means that a great man is not determined by the conditions such as a political status, economic wealth, knowledge and age. Therefore, a great man makes his own innate morality the basis of self identity. The political conscious of the great man requires the establishment of self identity containing such morality. However, the great man is never satisfied with the establishment of self identity as such. He proliferates it into the realization of social justice. The great man equipped with full morality amply conveys the love to the miserable in a society. It is similar to the concept of ‘Noblesse Oblige,’ in that it is related with transmitting love to a society. However, the political conscious of the great man differs from ‘noblesse oblige,’ which means repaying the benevolence received from the society, for it is an unconditional transmission of universal love. That is, the logic of a great man in the Analects rhetorically maintains that the culture of a peaceful community can be soundly sustained only when the innate morality is established as a self identity and then developed into a sense of community shared with the members of a society that he belongs to. Such a political conscious from the viewpoint of the great man may ideally contribute to dealing with the matters of alienation and social conflicts caused by the fragmentation and segmentalization derived from the doctrine of neo-liberalism.