『孟子』의 話法 - 논리적 결함 진술을 중심으로 -

Abstract

The works of Mencius have been considered the ideological core of Confucian ideas and praised for its literary rhetoric. Thus, it has drawn lots of attention in the areas of philosophy, ideology, education and literature etc. However, the importance of the works of Mencius could be also found in its logic and narration. The works of Mencius are very famous among the Confucian classics for fierce debates in which Mencius was involved during his campaigns around the nations and also for the narrative skills that he employed with rigorous logic. Considering that these factors are closely related to why the works of Mencius are highly evaluated, it is very surprising to find out that not many researches have been carried out on the topics. Meanwhile, the studies on the topics seem to have often ended up in positive evaluation, overwhelmed by the glaring authority of Mencius. Thus, to carry out objective and fair researches on the works of Mencius, it should be taken into consideration that Mencius was never a successful politician or political orator. It is clear that the failure of Mencius resulted from his idealistic political thoughts which ignore the realities, but illogical arguments in the narration also seem to be partially responsible for his failure. In the standpoint of language education, the problem of Mencius could be defined as failure in communication. Based on the observation, this paper presents some examples of his illogical arguments and examines their characteristics. This work deals with somewhat novel and significant issues with respect to the education of communicative skills and the understanding of Mencius.