한국 국제정치학과 개념사 — 매개항 ‘문명’의 방법론적 재구축 —

Abstract

This paper seeks to clarify the characteristics of conceptual history andprovide several methodological suggestions for further development ofresearch in Korea by investigating one exceptional phenomenon：the closerelationship between International Relations (IR) and conceptual history. Lee Yong-hee left an important academic legacy, helping to establish thestudy of Korean IR through his research which emphasized topos. ThenKim Yongkoo adapted Lee’s work for comparative civilizations, making useof it in his own research into diplomatic history, in which civilizationfeatures as a central concept. Moreover, the way that civilization inevitablycrosses the border of IR played a key role in the process whereby Kim transformed the products of IR into the basic components of his research inconceptual history. Thus, the concept of civilization not only made itpossible to understand the unique circumstances of Korean conceptualhistory, but also supplied a methodological foundation to resolve specificquestions. Nevertheless, despite these fruitful outcomes, after some progress inresearching the conceptual history of Korea, it has become necessary toreconstruct the concept of civilization. Firstly, in order to establish conceptualhistory as a comprehensive history, the excessive influence of IR on theconcept of civilization must be overcome. Secondly, the conceptualizationof civilization makes it impossible to take into account the existence ofcommon concepts which are trans-civilizational, and it is thereforenecessary to change the method whereby the discourses of comparativecivilizations are adapted for use in conceptual history. Thirdly, since duringthe process of modernization all of the concepts of Korea were affected byWestern civilization, the methodology of conceptual history should beformulated synthetically in its application to both technical terms andeveryday words.