Abstract

Yi T'oegye and Yi Yulgok are two most eminent Korean Neo-Confucian thinkers, who dominated the characteristic pattern of Korean thought. The "Four-Seven Debate" is the most important event in all of Korean intellectual history. As far as I know, studies of T'oegye and Yulgok, which are available in Korean, Japanese, and English do not treat it seriously enough. ;This is an attempt to interpret T'oegye's and Yulgok's "Four-Seven Thesis" of human nature and emotions and its practical implications in acquiring sagehood. The argument that I shall present in its work is its crucial importance in moral life. I consider my task to be that of a textual analysis. As an interpreter of words and their meanings, I have attempted to make myself transparent, allowing T'oegye and Yulog to speak through me through my translations and analyses of their philosophical letters, treatises and other principal writings. My method is philosophically a dialectical one that provides a way of comparison and criticism. Throughout the entire study, care is given to indicate similarities and differences between both thinkers' insights into metaphysics and ethics, with respect to the Neo-Confucian norm. One of my main objectives is to see to what extent T'oegye and Yulgok depart from Chu Hsi's philosophy, each in a divergent way. ;In the introductory chapter, I point out the inherent ambiguity of the relationship between the Four Beginnings and the Seven Emotions. I also briefly discuss the key questions and issues involved in the Korean Four-Seven controversy. In the final chapter of inquiry, I interpret the results of the textual analysis of the preceding five chapters. I shall do a critical analysis of certain theoretical problems that are evident in both men. I also intend to mention the uniqueness of each thinker's philosophy and its important contribution to the East Asian Confucian tradition as a whole. Supplementary information is presented in the epilogue and appendices. The selected bibliography offers primary sources and modern works