Traditional Korean Philosophy: Problems and Debates
270
Traditional Korean Philosophy: Problems and Debates
270eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781786601872 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 11/08/2016 |
| Series: | CEACOP East Asian Comparative Ethics, Politics and Philosophy of Law |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 270 |
| File size: | 846 KB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Philip J. Ivanhoe is Professor of East Asian and Comparative Philosophy and Religion and Director of the Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy at City University of Hong Kong. His many publications include Confucian Reflections (2013), The Reception and Rendition of Freud in China (co-edited with Tao Jiang, 2013), Mortality in Traditional Chinese Thought (co-edited with Amy Olberding, 2011) and Taking Confucian Ethics Seriously (co-edited with Kam-por Yu and Julia Tao, 2011).
Read an Excerpt
Traditional Korean Philosophy
Problems and Debates
By Youngsun Back, Philip J. Ivanhoe
Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd.
Copyright © 2017 Youngsun Back and Philip J. IvanhoeAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78660-187-2
CHAPTER 1
From Structure to Action
The Concepts of "Substance" (che [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and "Function" (yong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) in Gwon Geun's Philosophy
Halla Kim
1. INTRODUCTION
The concepts of substance and function are important philosophical categories that have been influential in the history of Korean philosophy. They are found not only in the Buddhist philosophies of Wonhyo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (617–686 CE), Jinul [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1158–1210), and Gihwa [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1376–1433) but also in the school of Neo-Confucianism, which dominated the Korean spirituality from the fourteenth century until the end of the nineteenth century. In this chapter, I discuss the classical Neo-Confucianism of Gwon Geun [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Yangchon [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], 1352–1409) and show that he presents a delicate and sophisticated theory in his appropriation and development of substance and function. Part of what I will suggest in this chapter is that the concepts of substance and function in Gwon's system were developed in complex ways within the context of the cosmology and psychology of sage learning along with the notion of principle (li [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Much in the spirit of the Cheng-Zhu teachings, he develops the concept of substance primarily as the underlying structure of reality (or a relevant portion thereof) that can, by way of its constant nature, ground and govern the changing world of action, which is expressed as its function. This is most perspicuously seen in Gwon's clear and accessible account of Zhu Xi's [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] quite distinctive interpretation of the [Yellow] River Diagram (hado [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and Luo Shu [Square] (nakseo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Some of Gwon's writings thus nicely present symbolic illustrations of Cheng-Zhu teaching as a further example of his tendency to explain philosophy diagrammatically. Finally, it is suggested that while this theory is motivated by Gwon's peculiar view of what is at stake in moral psychology as it emphasizes the structural component of human nature that ends with action, it ultimately serves to substantiate Gwon's metaphysical view that heaven and humans are one (cheonin hapilseol [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]).
2. GWON ON SUBSTANCE AND FUNCTION
Gwon is a pivotal figure in the early stage of Neo-Confucianism in Korea. He is not only one of the earliest ideological founders of the new dynasty of Joseon [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1392–1910) but also the progenitor of the Korean form of Neo-Confucianism with his emphasis on the importance of principle and also for the way that he paid particular attention to the roles that feelings play in our moral life, thus paving way for the later emergence of the great Four-Seven Debate in Korea.
For Gwon, principle is at the center of the myriad things in the entire universe. Principle is the intangible and abstract yet active and dynamic metaphysical principle of things. It is the principle of not only being of all things in the world but also their normative source, that is, the source of good in the world. Thus, principle is good intrinsically yet also transcendentally, going well beyond the confines of the manifested, phenomenal world.
What is more, human nature is none other than this very same principle concretely exemplified in humans. So, in this respect, human nature is innately good. A person has a heart-mind (sim [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) whose nature (seong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) is endowed by heaven. Since human nature is nothing other than principle, which is in the mind of a person, the mind must innately possess principle. Note that principle itself does not move but it sets the limits on what can move in the phenomenal world. This is because principle itself is the organizing principle of reality that, while not visible, provides the structure and pattern for all phenomena. For Gwon, what provides such structure and pattern can't be empty, as Buddhists suggest, so principle must be real. Principle is part of the furniture of reality. In a nutshell, principle is a real principle (silli [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) that actively governs the world. When the function of principle as the fountain of all beings in the universe is brought into relief, principle is called the Supreme Ultimate (taegeuk [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). The Supreme Ultimate thus refers to the ontological source of the development of things in the world, which it generates by way of its polarity. For the Cheng-Zhu School and almost every Neo-Confucian, each and every thing in the universe contains within itself all of the principles of the universe. All things express the Supreme Ultimate to varying degrees. In other words, even though abstract, principle is not limited to abstraction but exists ubiquitously in the universe as a dominating force that controls qi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). On this point, Gwon closely follows Zhu Xi as the latter says: "There is movement and calmness in the Supreme Ultimate and this is the flow of the Mandate of Heaven." Principle, the Way, and the Supreme Ultimate are all equal to the Mandate of Heaven that flows freely in the universe. In this sense, we may say that principle is what makes possible materialization of ethical ideals.
Now, for Gwon, all things in the universe can be considered in terms of two aspects, that is, substance and function. In particular, we can speak of a process or a complex consisting of substance and function. Even though Gwon does not formally define the concept of substance-function, we may say that for him substance refers to the underlying structure of something that provides the ground for its changes within the world. Function refers to what is manifested by what is hidden or invisible. Part of what this suggests is that substance itself does not change: it is rather what makes changes possible. In this sense, it is a matrix for change or an axis of development in the world of concrete things. In contrast, function is the sum of actions or processes in the manifested world that is made possible by substance. Gwon applies the substance-function scheme to the most important parts of his philosophical edifice, that is, his cosmology, the structure/origin of the Book of Changes (Yijing [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), the human mind in the context of sage learning itself, and so on. It is important to keep in mind that substance, which literally means "body," does not refer to a reified entity, as in the Western metaphysical concept of substance. Substance and function refer to two different ways or aspects of what is one and the same. In this sense, the substance of something is not separate from its function. They mutually embrace each other in a seamless way. But there is definitely an order or hierarchy between them. Substance is always thought to take precedence over function. In this sense, it is more basic or prior or fundamental than function. Gwon, for example, repeatedly emphasizes that human nature is substance, and the feelings expressed in everyday life are its function. In this respect, principle as the fundamental principle of things should be regarded as substance, while its manifestations, sometimes proper, sometimes not, would be its function.
3. SUBSTANCE AND FUNCTION IN GWON'S COSMOLOGY
In Gwon's Neo-Confucian cosmology, the Supreme Ultimate begets two, two begets four, four begets eight, and this unfolding process generates all phenomenal things. Here the Supreme Ultimate, of course, represents principle. Gwon says:
The Supreme Ultimate generates two basic forces (yin and yang) and these generate the four images. The Supreme Ultimate is principle. This principle must have this qi, and where there is this qi, there must be yin and yang, even and odd.
Whenever there is principle, there must be qi. Therefore, Gwon acknowledges that the world that is manifest is constituted by qi. But there are two qi: yin and yang. Thus, the Supreme Ultimate gives rise to yin and yang forces in the world. For Gwon, yin and yang are without distinctive shapes, but they can operate among the material things with shapes, in which case they may be characterized as in motion or at rest, prior and posterior, ascending and descending. In the transformative cosmological process where the Supreme Ultimate generates yin and yang, the latter generating four images, which in turn generate the eight trigrams (gwae [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), and so on, substance is the structural ground that does not change; function is what undergoes changes and generations. We can thus see that, while he tries to distinguish substance and function in terms of their being tangible or not, at the deeper level, he suggests that substance, being the constant ground of changing things, is what makes changes possible without itself changing and function is what goes through the process of generation (saeng [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Thus, function is generated because of principle and principle is what underpins function. This is why, for Gwon, there is function in substance, and there is substance in function as well.
For Gwon, substance and function have a single origin (cheyong ilwon [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). In this, Gwon follows Cheng Yi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1033–1107) and Zhu Xi. Cheng Yi had initially argued that "principle is the ultimately subtle, the images (sang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) are the ultimately manifest. Since substance and function have a single origin, there is no gap between the manifest and the subtle." Continuing this line of thinking, Zhu Xi suggested that substance is the true reality as the spring of the myriad things in the world, whereas function is the manifested world of phenomenon.
How does Gwon interpret the workings of the whole universe in terms of substance and function? In his considered view, the whole universe is constantly in transformation (yeok [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), but the myriad transformations are always governed by principle. Gwon characterizes this function of principle as sincerity (seong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Sincerity then describes the unique character of the entire universe as a substance. Now, the Book of Changes states that the heavenly way (cheondo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) is characterized by the four virtues of won [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], hyeong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], li [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], and jeong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], as represented in the "Heaven" hexagram. By contrast, the human way (indo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) consists in the middle way or neutrality (jung [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). And so, the heavenly way must be substance and the human way function. Here, we can see Gwon attempts to explain human morality by means of the heavenly way. Thus, for him, it is absolutely important for those who aspire to human morality to understand the workings of the heavenly way. As Gwon puts it:
In heaven, there are won, hyeong, li, and jeong. In humans, there are humanity, righteousness, propriety and wisdom ... the superior person carries out these four virtues. And so it is said that through won, hyeong, li, and jeong the human joins with the heavenly. This means that the virtues carried out by the superior person are none other than the four virtues of the hexagram geon ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and this is how the heavenly and the human are united as one. This unity stems from and reflects the normative structural isomorphism between heaven and humans. This in turn is true because both of them have the same substance-function structure. The unity of substance and function is thus the same as the unity of heaven and humans.
In a crucial move, Gwon calls the heavenly way generating the world Former Heaven (seoncheon [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). "Former Heaven" is originally a term that refers to the first part of any fixed period of time. For example, the Former Heaven of a day is the morning; the Former Heaven of the four seasons is spring and summer; and the Former Heaven of the universe is the period of its creation and generation. Later Heaven (hucheon [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), on the other hand, means the second half of such a time period, whether it is a day or the seasons or the age of the universe. From this, we can extend the sense of Former Heaven to include the ground or beginning of anything. It can also refer to the ground or reason why the Book of Changes was created by its legendary creator Fu Xi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. In contrast, what Gwon calls "Later Heaven" must refer to human affairs in the created world. Thus, Later Heaven states the reason why King Wen [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] of the Zhou [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] dynasty created his own version of the text. Since substance is what serves as the ground and function is what is manifested from such a ground, we may say that Former Heaven is substance and Later Heaven is function. Fu Xi's text is thus a Former Heaven version of the Book of Changes and at the same time substance, whereas King Wen's version of the text is a Later Heaven Book of Changes and function. However, the relation of substance and function here is not absolute. Fu Xi's text may be a substance vis-à-vis King Wen's text, but it is also a function if compared to the changes as manifested in nature, which is a substance.
For Gwon, even though the Book of Changes is basically a book of divination, its proper method must be based on the cosmic principles, which he locates in the images (sang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and numbers (su [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). And at the foundation of the workings of images and numbers is principle — that is, the heavenly way. This principle goes through a dialectical self-development in the world. This process is precisely what Gwon characterizes as sincerity.
But he also makes clear that the function found in Later Heaven all stems from one and the same substance of Former Heaven. Thus, he claims an isomorphism between the Former Heaven's change and the Later Heaven's change. This is important because it shows that various extensions of function develop out of one and the same substance. Indeed, this is a theme that is common to Neo-Confucians at the time. The very constitution of the universe is intrinsically impregnated with natural phenomena, and the full development of the latter, in turn, is due to the former. The whole cosmos shows the unity of constancy and change. There is thus a unity of the underlying principle and the manifested phenomena, being and becoming, value and fact.
There is only one principle (li-il [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), but it can be dispersed (bunsu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and exemplified in different things. Again, as is typically the case with the proponents of the Cheng-Zhu line of thought, Gwon holds that there are, however, two aspects of principle. First, there is the single universal principle that is found in all things. In this respect, the principle of humans is the same as the principle of lower animals or rocks. So, all things have the same principle as their common, original principle or nature. The Supreme Ultimate is this original principle which is the source of all things. All things in the world are generated out of the Supreme Ultimate. Second, there is the "dispersed" and particular expression of principle found among members of different species. So, the particular expression of the principle of humans is different from that of other animals or inanimate beings. But even though different humans share a common principle that distinguishes them from other beings, humans themselves are also different from each other, since their different endowments of qi result in more or less complete and always particular manifestations of principle. All of these differences, within and across species and types of things, are due to differences in qi. Some qi is more pure or refined and others simpler and coarser. This is why there is a difference between sages on the one hand and ordinary humans on the other.
As we observed, Gwon suggests that there is an isomorphism in normative structure between the heavenly way and the human way. Heaven and the humans are one, not two. However, because humans typically digress and diverge from their nature due to their desires, the unity with heaven is not only their intrinsic nature but also their unrealized goal. In order to achieve this unity in the course of one's life (i.e., in order to recover one's native goodness), one must understand the transformation and generation of the hexagrams of the Book of Changes. This understanding is required in order to pursue the proper path of self-cultivation. It is the ultimate purpose of Gwon's philosophy to show that there is a unity between heaven and humans. The Diagrammatical Treatise for the Commencement of Learning (Iphak doseol [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) (hereafter Diagrammatical Treatise) purports to do just this from the considerations of the human nature. To be sure, A Survey of the Book of Changes ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) focuses on the generation of 64 hexagrams from the Supreme Ultimate, but here again the unity of heaven and humans is the main goal in his cosmological hermeneutics and his use of the substance-function pair.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Traditional Korean Philosophy by Youngsun Back, Philip J. Ivanhoe. Copyright © 2017 Youngsun Back and Philip J. Ivanhoe. Excerpted by permission of Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.