우환의식과 주자의 存天理 滅人欲의 의미 재고 ― 포스트 팬데믹 시대의 우환과 공존의 유토피아 ―

Abstract

In anticipation of the end of the pandemic, various sectors of society are actively discussing what has been termed the “new normal” and post-corona society. As an inflection point, the social, public, and ecological values emphasized due to COVID-19 are indeed values that should be treated as important through global reflection and solidarity. In addition, in order to realize these values, the problem of desire needs to be considered more directly than ever. In awareness of this problem, this review reconsiders the insight into the dystopia of desire and the utopia of the heavenly principle(天理) to overcome it, focusing on the practical significance of the Heavenly Principle viewed in Confucianism First, I reviewed the Dae-dong(大同, a great union) society and the Consciousness of Anxiety(憂患意識). Subsequently, I attended to the relationship between the heavenly principle and human desire in Cheng-Zhu(程朱)’s theory. Here, I think the core meaning of “preserving the heavenly principle and eliminating human desire(存天理 滅人欲)” is the revelation of the heavenly principle. Therefore, I tried to explore the practical meaning of the heavenly principle from the perspective of Confucius’s “desire for humanity(欲仁)” instead of that of precarious human desire. The Confucian utopia, which tries to directly link the ideal of heaven with the self of reality, is characterized by a firm goal of “realizable ideal,” not “where it is nowhere,” as Thomas Moore said. The dystopia of human desire can be converted into a utopia of coexistence, not catastrophe or lethargy, through “preserving the heavenly principle and eliminating the human desire.” It is practiced with empathy and coexistence in everyday life. Therefore, the meaning of the heavenly principle needs to be treated more importantly than ever at this inflection point of post-pandemic society facing the problem of coexistence today. No matter what era we live in, there has been no way to exist other than living together, so even if etiquette changes, efforts to explore the nature of coexistence should not be stopped. Therefore, the modern reconstruction of “preserving the heavenly principle and eliminating human desire” can look at the problems of selfishness and fragmented society caused by the pandemic as “human desire’s dystopia” and reflect on the mind in the process of seeking a new ritual for the post-pandemic society. Furthermore, in the process of seeking the post-pandemic society as a “utopia of coexistence,” the practical meaning of the heavenly principle can be found.