栗谷의 ‘七情包四端’ 명제가 含意하는 두 가지

Abstract

Lee Yul-gok confirmed the proposition that the seven feelings include the four beginnings. The perception that the seven feelings include the four beginnings had already been proposed by Ki Ko-bong in the 1st four-seven debate; the opposite debater Lee T’oe-gye did not deny the perception. However, Lee Yul-gok’s assertion has different meanings which distinguishes it from the perception of other Neo-Confucians, including Lee T’oe-gye and Ki Ko-bong. Focusing on these two points, the author discusses the differences. Usually, the term “seven feelings” of saying that the seven feelings include the four beginnings means the whole human emotions, and the saying is based on two assumptions: one, the four beginnings and the seven feelings are two different collections of human emotions, namely two categories of human emotions; and two, good or bad of the four beginnings are distinguished from the good or bad of the seven feelings. On the other hand, by saying that the seven feelings include the four beginnings, Lee Yul-gok did not place the four beginnings under another category of human emotions. According to Lee, the so-called “four beginnings” refers to some good ones of the seven feelings. And whatever the case, none of the human emotions is irrelevant to moral value.