• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.41
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• pp.381-413
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• 2015

This article aims to trace a historical trajectory of "Humanism" as a Modern scientific concept in the light of Michel Foucault's genealogy. Generally, we believe that Humanism is a natural and eternal idea for mankind, because no one doubts that he or she is not included in the category of a "Human Being." On the contrary, according to French philosopher Foucault, the Idea of Humanism, or anthropocentrism, appeared only in the Modern Age, from the 16th century downward. Before the Renaissance, human beings did not occupy the most important status in Nature, and only existed as natural beings. As soon as mankind was liberated from the superstitious of fear and religious dogma, the concept of "Human Being" is supplied with new meanings and values. The famous maxim, such as, "Man is the lord of creation" constitutes modern human science as an inviolable category of modernity. However, Foucault tried to illuminate the hidden sides of humanism, and gave us the strict warning on the end of the human beings, which turned out to be an object of Modern knowledge. If there would be no reason to maintain a knowledge system of Modernity, in other words, Modernity as knowledge would lose its validity and we could give up Humanism as a heavy burden. Moreover, it is very clear that we are confronted with the critical moments of radical skepticism on the meaning and value for Humanity. That means that we need to think about the new transformations of Human Beings, which will probably appear in the forms of "Non-Humans," "Machines (Deleuze & Guattari)," or "Post-Humans" etc. At the present time, we cannot know if it will be positive, or negative for mankind. We should look back at the history of Humanism from a genealogical perspective, which is why we have to investigate the conceptual trajectory of Humanism in this moment.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.21
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• pp.117-167
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• 2009

Assemblypersons' activities have organizational and individual nature. The activities of assemblypersons and their assistant staffs become a motive for major work performance of Korean legislature, and are also critical public services affecting contemporary political history, history of political parties and history of assemblyperson's hometown. Moreover, their activities are also characterized by work performance in favor of assemblyperson's personal interests to effectively communicate his or her achievements during term of office to electors with a view to winning reelection after the end of 4-year term of office. Assemblyperson's organization produces various types of record in the performance of these works. From the viewpoint of public archive as a product of assemblypersons' public service performance and from their own personal viewpoints, they can create their own identity by arranging their personal records that can demonstrate their own political philosophy, policy orientation, achievements during term of office, and personal features. In addition, their personal records can have much more values and significance in the sense that those records are available to electors to make it possible to highlight their own images in objective and reliable manner. Conclusively, this study underlined that the efforts for assemblypersons and their assistant staffs to keep their records well could be helpful to streamline their internal works and be also helpful for personal interests of assemblypersons. And this study proposed procedures and methods for deducing and screening a list of production archives to meet a viewpoint of streamlined internal works and needs for keeping personal records, ultimately with a view to giving practical helps for these works.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.99-111
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• 2022

Akey factor in evolution is reproduction, which is also a major concern in medicine. Evolutionists have proposed many theories and hypotheses to explain the low fertility rates of modern industrial societies, which are contrary to maximization of biological fitness. Given that childbirth is the most significant factor affecting reproductive fitness, it is likely that a variety of psychological modules related to childbirth behavior and intention evolved over time. Several evolutionary psychological modules have been proposed in relation to reproduction, including sexual desire, status-seeking, a need for nurturing, and the desire for children. Previously adaptive psychological modules may now be expressed maladaptively due to the discrepancy between the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) and the environment of modern industrial society. Several evolutionary ecological factors influence childbirth intention in modern society, including individual personality factors, childhood life history experiences, and socioecological factors throughout reproductive life. By focusing on mental, social, and ecological factors, this review examines several hypothetical models relating to evolutionary psychological factors and childbirth decisions in modern industrial society, as well as a possible explanation for the low birth rate.

• Korean Association for Visual Culture
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• v.16
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• pp.131-161
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• 2010

This thesis investigates the cultural meanings of the first optical instrument, Camera obscura, in the pre-modern age, while it explains the development as well as the use of the Camera obscura in Europe and Korea. For this purpose the thesis traces the significant phases of the historical developments of the Camera obscura from L. da Vinci, G. B. della Porta, D. Barbaro, A. Kircher to J. Zahn etc. The Camera obscura was not only the symbolic instrument of the modernism in the sense that human being wanted to observe the outer world by himself and to be freed from the viewpoint of the christianity, but also was the forerunner of the modern visual culture, because it first time reproduced the artificial image of the natural world. Since the second half of the 17th century the box-type reflex Camera obscura had been produced, it began to be used as aid to drawing for painters like J. Vermeer, A. Canaletto and J. Reynolds etc. throughout Europe. It tells the evidence of the close relation between art and technology in the pre-modern age. Around the end of the 18th century the Camera obscura was brought to Korea, the closed country of the Fareast, by the scholars of the so-called 'Realist school' (Silhak-pa) who went to Beijing to acquire knowledges on the Western science from the European priests. In 1780s Yak-yong JUNG, one of the representative scholars of the Realist school, experimented the Camera obscura, and then, it was used for sketches of higher aristocrats' portraits by the supreme portrait painter of that time, Myoung-ki LEE. Those were possible only under the reign of the culturally liberal and reformative King, Jung-jo (ruled 1776-1800), and after his retreatment the inquiry of the Camera obscura had been dimished. It is not a historical coincidence that the Camera obscura could be examined and used in the period of the Enlightment both in Europe and Korea.

• Journal of Ethics
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• no.76
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• pp.305-329
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• 2010

The problem of freedom is inseparably related to human life. It makes this not to be regarded as a problem restricted to the professional domain of ethics. It suggests rather that the problem of freedom is intimately connected with the philosophical groundwork for discussing the future direction of society, culture and science, and its regulative idea, a philosophical discussion which comes up inevitably with various social, economic and political problems, and problems related to the spirit of law. In this view, when we want to explain the problem of freedom as a fundamental one in reference to future direction of humanities and to find out a solution to this, our research only in accordance with the approach of history of philosophy runs into difficulties. The reason is that the problem of freedom has nowness together with historicity. Finding this problem to be a present one in our concrete human life, we can discuss it more meaningful under the methodological frame changed and developed by philosophical reflections since the modern age. And here I think a culturalistic approach reinterpreting hermeneutic insight and pragmatistic context methodologically can provide a pertinent clue for a theoretical work to investigate the problem of freedom and to find a solution to that because this approach considers historicity and nowness. For this purpose analysing truth intersubjectively and understanding freedom critically, this article tries to reconstruct symbolic interpretation and the concept of self constructed in community of language and action as a cultural horizon of freedom.