동학의 도덕 개념 의미화와 사상적 의의

Abstract

‘Do’ (道) and ‘Deok’ (德, virtue) had held their own separate semantic realms in Eastern classics long before the term ‘Dodeok’ (道德, morality) was coined. ‘Do’ referred to both the order of nature and human norms; ‘Deok’ meant innate human nature, a species characteristic that could distinguish humanity from all other things. The way of Heaven (天道), the way of Human (人道), and ‘Myeongdeok’ (明德) in Great Learning (大學) were the ideas that showed them clearly. Donghak, founded in the mid-19th century amid the domestic and foreign crisis of the Joseon dynasty, was different from Confucianism in that it denied the substantiality of ‘Do’; also different from Western Learning (Catholicism) in that it rejected God in the Christian sense. Based on Cheo Je-u’s religious experience, the teachings of Donghak spread to the general public while Joseon’s Neo-Confucianism as social operation principle was coming to an end. Considering that Heaven and people are not separate and all humans are sacred beings since Heaven exists inherently within us, Donghak opposed social discrimination and advocated equality. Born at the conflicting crossroad of Confucianism and Western Learning, it expanded the concept of Reverence of Heaven to people and things and considered humans as agent who could perfect autonomous morality, ultimately intending to establish an independent learning of the Eastern’s own.