박은식의 근대적 심학― ‘眞我’의 구성과 특징을 중심으로

Abstract

This paper seeks to illuminate BaekAm(白巖) Park Eun-sik(朴殷植, 1858~1927)’s modern study of mind-heart(心學) constructed on the idea of “true self(眞我)” that he, as the first scholar of modern study of Wang Yang-ming in korea, attained through his last enlightenment. Although he recognized the study of Zhu Xi(朱子) as the Dohak(道學, the study of Tao), he thought that the study of Wang Yang-ming was appropriate for modern times to establish moral personality in parallel with modern science. In his idea of true self made up of intention[意] and knowledge[知], intention as the divergent place of righteousness and desire was the starting point of moral responsibility. Therefore, he stressed the practice of making the intention sincere(誠意) in Great Learning (《大學》) to break free from existential hypocrisy(僞善) and pursue the moral ideal of true sincerity(眞誠) or ultimate sincerity(至誠). Knowledge as the source of intention was divided into the empirical knowledge and the innate good knowledge corresponding to science and philosophy, respectively. Especially he proposed a new way to control empirical knowledge indirectly by means of self-reflection through innate knowledge. The task of “the extension of innate good knowledge[致良知]” consisted of ‘extension’ as the practice and innate good knowledge as the substance. BaekAm, in True Record of Master Wang Yang-ming (《王陽明先生實記》, 1910), emphasized the tempering oneself through concrete affairs(事上磨鍊) as the practice rather than the substance of innate good knowledge. In his final enlightenment in 1925, the introspective practice of purifying the pollution of the mind was emphasized so that spiritual intelligence(靈明) as the instinct of innate good knowledge could sovereign everything. In other words, the introspective practice of maintaining the purity and brightness of innate good knowledge itself was emphasized in final enlightenment while the practice of tempering oneself through concrete affairs was emphasized in True Record of Master Wang Yang-ming. At that time Liang Qichao(梁啓超, 1873~1929), introducing Kant’s view that distinguished between essence and phenomena and regarded the essence of free life as true self, defined the Buddhism’s suchness(眞如) and Yang-ming’s innate good knowledge transcending time and space as true self. However, Park Eun-sik constructed a true self composed of intention and knowledge based on the composition of Great Learning, and his idea of true self was unique in that it encompassed not only the substance of innate good knowledge but also the subject of practice in existential reality.