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- Title
The Primacy of Li (Principle) in the Neo-Confucian Philosophy of Zhu Xi: Significance for Contemporary Korean Society.
- Authors
Hansang A. KIM
- Abstract
Among the Confucian and Buddhist philosophical heritages of East Asia, Zhu Xis school of nature and principle (lixue ... in Chinese, seongnihak ... in Korean), with its philosophy of the primacy of li (principle), provides valuable resources for a new universal ethics due to its rationalistic metaphysical characteristic that goes beyond instrumental or functional reason. The defining traits of lixue involve a metaphysical philosophical thinking that places importance on the making of distinctions in the levels of being The distinctive characteristic of Zhus metaphysics is connected invariably with his philosophy of the primacy of li, which gives precedence to li ... over qi ... ('material force or 'psycho-physical matter). By positing the objective existence of a normative truth embedded in xing ... (seong in Korean; 'moral [human] nature), the Neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi seeks to secure the moral basis of not only human society but the entire ecosphere. Zhu Xis philosophy of the primacy of li may serve to reinvigorate the ethical foundation of contemporary Korean society, which despite current materialistic-physicalist tendencies is marked by manifestly deep Neo-Confucian spirituality and religiosity.
- Subjects
EAST Asia; METAPHYSICS; NEO-Confucianism; ZHU Xi, 1130-1200; SPIRITUALITY
- Publication
Korea Journal, 2019, Vol 59, Issue 4, p194
- ISSN
0023-3900
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.25024/kj.2019.59.4.194