『개벽』의 유물론 수용이 지닌 사상사적 함축－서구 이론 및 사상에 대한 변용 및 재전유의 특징을 중심으로－

Abstract

In the early 20th century on the Korean peninsula, Gaebyeok was a major reception channel for Western theories and thoughts, and also played an important role in relation to the acceptance of socialism and materialism. In particular, when we focus on the articles on materialism in Gaebyeok, a meaningful tendency is found from the standpoint of Korean modern thoughts’ history. Materialism falls within the categories of metaphysics, ontology, and world-view(Weltanschauung) in the Western philosophical tradition, so it has the characteristics of being strongly combined with revolutionary practices as well as involving complex and elaborate speculation. Therefore, the understanding and acceptance of materialism form an interesting situation in which the complex foundation encompassing theory and practice from the perspective of understanding and receiving party is fully operational and revealed. Therefore, the characteristics and trends revealed in the acceptance of the unfamiliar theory of ‘materialism’ are, in themselves, an important object of study in the Korean modern thought’s history, and furthermore, it can be said to be an important clue that leads to capture the general characteristics seen in the acceptance of Western theories and ideas at that time. The characteristics that Gaebyeok reveals in the understanding and acceptance of materialism can be roughly divided into two. One is the case where the scope of reinterpretation, transformation, and re-appropriation of theories and ideas is narrow, and the other is the case where the reinterpretation or re-appropriation is quite strong. The former is a characteristic that appears when materialism is introduced directly through translation, and the latter is a characteristic that is revealed when materialism is dealt with in relation to other major topics such as conventional intellectual tradition, culture, and religion. Although certain deviations appear, the introduction and acceptance of the materialism of Gaebyeok clearly shows the tendency to re-appropriate the unfamiliar concepts or theories. This suggests that the common cultural or intellectual foundation that allows unfamiliar theories and concepts to be consistently understood and explained works. In other words, the intellectuals of that time who encountered Western theories and concepts stood on a common intellectual tradition that allowed them to redefine and re-appropriate them in their own way. In a situation where informations and understandings of Western theories, systematic education about them, and etc. are not prepared, the considerate insight of seeing traditional theories in the light of a western concept of materialism, or the excellent interpretation of regarding a kind of western materialism as organic monism, shows a dynamic intellectual tradition and its high standard.