조선후기 인물성론의 인간학적 가치-한원진과 이간을 중심으로-

Abstract

Firstly, the term ‘Disputation about the Difference Between Human Nature and Animal Nature' should not be used. All the scholars who participated in the ‘Disputation about the Difference Between Human Nature and Animal Nature' were neo-Confucians, and they dealt with this topic based on the premise that the nature of man and the nature of things are fundamentally different. They viewed man as the most perfect and superior being in the world, and animals as imperfect and inferior beings, and worried about the degradation of human nature into animal nature. For this very reason, their ultimate goal was the realization of human nature in the realms of both academia and politics. Secondly, both sides of the dispute shared the same studies. They have all studied Yi I’s theory that 'one way that ki is generating and then li is on it' and the theory that 'principle is penetrating and material force is limited’. They all also shared Song Si-yeol's values such as 'Protecting the Civilization & Rejecting the Barbarianism', and studied his views on ‘Respecting for Chu Tzu & rejecting the Heterodoxy’ as well as his ‘Thought of Chuchu’. Both Lee Gan (李柬; 1677~1727), who stated that all men have the same inner nature but different emotional nature, and Han Wonjin (韓元震; 1682~1751), who argued that even the inner nature can vary by person because of the workings of ki, agreed on the importance of revealing the human nature and duty, what is right, and achieving moral values as they carried on the dispute. Thirdly, the value of the ‘Theory of the Sameness and Difference about the Nature of Man and Things’ is not involved in the discussion about the nature of man and animals. Its value actually lies in that it showed the acme of research into the inner nature of man. Even the scholars who believed in the ‘Theory of the Sameness and Difference about the Nature of Man and Things’ did not approve of animal nature nor did they shed their belief that ‘men are noble and animals are lowly’. Fourthly, the main discussions on the ‘Theory of the Sameness and Difference about the Nature of Man and Things’ in the 18th Century Joseon Dynasty were: the unaroused mind itself (Substance of Heart-Mind), perception of emptiness (empty spiritualty and apprehensiveness), and the aim to substantiate the heart which can generalize the nature of man. For this reason, it is in my opinion that ‘Theory of the Sameness and Difference about the Nature of Man and Things’, ‘Theory of the Unaroused Mind Itself (Substance of Heart-Mind) or ‘Theory of Mind of Mean and Harmony’ are more appropriate terms than ‘Disputation about the Difference between Human Nature and Animal Nature'.