유가의 祖宗으로 알려진 孔子에게 있어서 가장 큰 관심이며 궁극적인 탐구 대상은 ‘인간자체’였다. 인간이 인간답게(人格的으로) 살아가게 되는 본래적 원리를 탐구하여 이를 仁. 直. 善 등으로 설명한 것이나, 인간이 인간답게 살아가야 하는 당위적 근거와 구체적 방식을 밝혀 이를 ‘天道에 근거한 四德의 구현’으로 闡明함으로써, 후세의 인류사에 ‘인간과 관련한 근원적 존재원리와 궁극적 삶의 이념’을 해명하여 가르쳐 준 그의 전 생애가 이를 대변하고 있다. 이처럼 공자는 인간 존재에 대한 제반 논설을 철학적 보편원리에 근거하여 立論하고 敎說함으로써 인류의 정신사에 있어서 만세의 스승이 될 수 있었던 것이다.
그러므로 공자의 言行(그의 언행이 기록되어 전수된 유가의 제 경전)에는 ‘인간에 대한 다양한 의미 규정과 이를 뒷받침하는 구체적 설명’ 등이 자세하고도 빈번하게 나타나고 있는바, 유가 철학의 핵심적 주제가 다름 아닌 ‘인간 자체’라고 운위되는 이유도 여기에 있는 것이다.
이에 논자는 儒家의 철학적 第一主題인 ‘人間’에 대하여, 유가의 철학적 論法의 하나인 三才的 觀點으로 구분하여 설명함으로써, 유학에서의 인간과 관련한 제반 문제를 철학적 지평에서 擴張. 深化시켜보려는 것이다.
이를 통하여 儒家에서 규정하고 있는 대표적인 人間像을 “物質的 本性에 근거한 太極的 百姓” “神明的 原理에 근거한 無極的 聖人” “그리고 神. 物 兩性의 人格的 主體性에 근거한 皇極的 君子”로 구분하고, 각각의 철학적 의미를 論究함으로써, 유가에서 규정한 實存的 인간상을 보다 현상적이고 현실적인 시각에서 논의해 본 것이다.
유가의 중심 주제인 인간과 관련한 諸問題에서 기존의 다양한 관념적 차원의 論說에 머물지 않고, 보다 生動하는 유가의 使命的 인간상을 철학적 보편 구조인 三才的 觀點에서 모색한 본 論文은 유가 사상의 영원한 주제인 ‘人間 理解의 地平’을 학문적으로 한 단계 더 深化하고 擴張할 수 있을 것으로 기대하는 바이다.
Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, had greatest interest in 'human beings' as the ultimate subject of investigation. This is represented by his life devoted to explore fundamental principles of human-like (moral) life, to explain such principles in terms of benevolence(仁), directness(直), and goodness(善), and to discover normative grounds and specific means through which human beings must live like human. He emphasized this as ‘realization of four virtues based on the Way of Heaven', explaining 'the fundamental principles of being and ultimate ideology of life' to the future generations. As such, Confucius became an everlasting teacher of human mind by arguing and teaching his ideas about human existences based on the universal philosophical principles. Therefore, words and actions of Confucius (scripture of Confucianism that records words and actions of Confucius) frequently shows 'various meanings related to human beings and specific explanations to support his idea' in details. This is the reason why the core theme of Confucian philosophy is said to lie in 'human beings'. Accordingly, the author aimed to expand and deepen issues of Confucianism related to 'human beings', the primary theme of Confucianism, on the philosophical level by explaining them from the perspective of three talents, a philosophical reasoning of Confucianism. Representative human characters defined by Confucianism were divided into “Taiji people(太極的 百姓) based on materialistic human nature”, “Wuji saints(无極的 聖人) based on the principle of God's will”, and “Huangji noble men(皇極的 君子) based on personal subjectivity of God, material, and both side” Philosophical meaning of each character was discussed to view existential human characters defined by Confucianism from a phenomenal and realistic perspective. This paper explained human characters of Confucianism from the viewpoint of the three talents(삼재적 관점), the universal philosophical structure, instead of simply presenting various ideological discussions on the central theme of Confucianism about human beings. It is expected to further deepen and expand the 'horizon of human understanding', the permanent theme of Confucian ideology.
Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, had greatest interest in 'human beings' as the ultimate subject of investigation. This is represented by his life devoted to explore fundamental principles of human-like (moral) life, to explain such principles in terms of benevolence(仁), directness(直), and goodness(善), and to discover normative grounds and specific means through which human beings must live like human. He emphasized this as ‘realization of four virtues based on the Way of Heaven', explaining 'the fundamental principles of being and ultimate ideology of life' to the future generations. As such, Confucius became an everlasting teacher of human mind by arguing and teaching his ideas about human existences based on the universal philosophical principles. Therefore, words and actions of Confucius (scripture of Confucianism that records words and actions of Confucius) frequently shows 'various meanings related to human beings and specific explanations to support his idea' in details. This is the reason why the core theme of Confucian philosophy is said to lie in 'human beings'. Accordingly, the author aimed to expand and deepen issues of Confucianism related to 'human beings', the primary theme of Confucianism, on the philosophical level by explaining them from the perspective of three talents, a philosophical reasoning of Confucianism. Representative human characters defined by Confucianism were divided into “Taiji people(太極的 百姓) based on materialistic human nature”, “Wuji saints(无極的 聖人) based on the principle of God's will”, and “Huangji noble men(皇極的 君子) based on personal subjectivity of God, material, and both side” Philosophical meaning of each character was discussed to view existential human characters defined by Confucianism from a phenomenal and realistic perspective. This paper explained human characters of Confucianism from the viewpoint of the three talents(삼재적 관점), the universal philosophical structure, instead of simply presenting various ideological discussions on the central theme of Confucianism about human beings. It is expected to further deepen and expand the 'horizon of human understanding', the permanent theme of Confucian ideology.
