‘도’와 ‘덕’ 개념을 중심으로 본 『신자』의 철학

Abstract

This study analyzed the philosophy in Shenzi 愼子 with a focus on the concepts of dao 道 and de 德. Two different types of dao appear in Shenzi. First, dao as the natural order. As the natural order, dao serves as the basis for law. In Shenzi, the notion of dao is used as the basis for law to reinforce its authority. Second, the book refers to dao as statecraft. The key to dao as statecraft is for the ruler to stop acting, delegate his tasks to the ministers, and merely evaluate and compensate the ministers for their work. Since this process is based on law, dao as statecraft could be understood to have its basis on law. The goal of statecraft, according to Shenzi, is to strengthen the monarch's authority and weaken the power of the ministers. The fundamental meaning of de in Shenzi is benefits, which are not products of intention, so that someone who received de would not realize they had received it. De is an incomplete and dependent entity, and one would need the following elements to provide de: assistance 助, authority 權, power 勢, and status 位. The notion of de in Shenzi was presented to criticize the rule of virtue 德 advocated by the Confucian scholars. An examination of the philosophical ideas in Shenzi focusing on the concepts of dao and de showed how conventional viewpoints, of classifying Shenzi as a work of Huang-Lao Taoism or of setting power at the heart of Shenzi philosophy, need to be reconsidered. The dao in Shenzi lacks the meaning of dao as the origin of all things and the principle behind the creation of all things, a view strongly supported by the Huang-Lao Taoists, and the concept of power in Shenzi is merely one of the many elements required for the provision of de.