霞谷 鄭齊斗의 知覺論과 倫理學: 주자학과 양명학의 독창적인 결합

Abstract

The aim of this article is to prove that Hagok (霞谷) Chŏng Che-du’s (鄭齊斗: 1649~1736) philosophical system, who is the most famous scholar in Korean Yang-ming learning, shows the exquisite unification of the epistemological viewpoint in Zhuzi Learning and the moral metaphysics in Yang-ming Learning. Though he has professed oneself to be Yang-ming scholar in his thirties, he has received partly the viewpoint of Zhuzi Learning about ‘cognitive awareness (jigak, 知覺)’ in the course of the debate with his friend Min Yi-seung (閔以升: 1649~1698). After confronting Park Se-chae’s (朴世采: 1631~1695) severe criticism, he has organized his own philosophical system by writing his books. In Chŏng Che-du’s thought, yangji (良知) is regarded as not only moral intuition but also the metaphysical substance that makes the function of mind like cognitive awareness and moral intuition possible. Though the existence and sensual experience of outer things can not be denied in his thought, the laws of things and events are ultimately constituted and manifested by inner yangji. In this point, his epistemology can be characterized by subjectivism and idealism. The character of synthesis of cognitive awareness and yangji is also revealed in his ethics. He has unified the ethics of ritual-oriented Zhuzi Learning and the virtue ethics of Yang-ming learning. Though moral rules depend on the base of Yangji, it is necessary for the performer to study and learn the concrete content of rules for the good action. Therefore moral rules have to be known by the investigation of things and events like the law of nature. In conclusion, Chŏng Che-du has unified Zhuzi Learning and Yang-ming learning by establishing his unique epistemology and ethics in the logical response to the rigorous criticism from the tradition of Zhuzi Learning in Chosŏn Dynasty.