• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.148
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• pp.129-156
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• 2018

Recently, a lot of articles and writings defending animal right and welfare are introduced into our society. For example, P. Singer's Animal Liberation, T. Regan's The Case for Animal Rights, and J. Rachels's Created From Animal are representative writings of animal ethics. In his books, P. Singer maintains that all animals are equal. T. Regan insisted that animals as a subject of a life have rights. J. Rachels's moral individualism is that how an individual may be treated is to be determined, not by considering his group membership, but by considering his own particular characteristics. Interestingly, they use common argument called 'argument from marginal cases' to justify their theoretical positions. If we can disclose the weakness of the argument, all kinds of animal ethics which defend animal right and welfare such as animal liberation theory, animal rights theory and moral individualism will collapse. In this paper, I will examine the concrete contexts in which Singer, Regan and Rachels make use of the argument. And I will critically examine the argument. Lastly I will show that the attempt to deny the difference of species is unsuccessful.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.139-162
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• 2014

This paper critically examines the existing discourses about 'relationship', a key element of social work practice and questingly examines Lao-tzu's work of Tao Te Ching, the book of way and virtue, as an alternative theoretical framework for social work relationship. Compared to current discourses of relationship beleaguered by either modernism or postmodernism, both of which are in the deadlock of binary perspective, the insights and vision in Tao Te Ching are successfully able to overcome the limits of them and provide new and profound way of thinking about human, society and their relationship. Especially core cannons crystallized by natural humanistic concepts for cosmos coupled with innate critical power against artificial manipulations of world can extend the horizon of understanding concerning the relationship between client and social workers and therefore provide a new and attractive roles in professional relationship. Moreover, opposed to usual images of Lao-tzu's ideas such as nihilism and passivity, alternative relationship of social work can play an important role of caring the disordered reality where Dao disappered and criticise the selfish desires of individuals and comport the broken-hearted minds in modern society. In addition, results of this paper implies that more extended study articulating ideas of Tao Te Ching with the social work practice would have lots of potentials to promote later researches in quest of 'Korean' social work practice.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.28
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• pp.87-116
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• 2010

In elementary, environmental education have been doing in various subjects. The features of environmental instruction would be reflected on contents of environmental education and characteristics of each subjects. These contents of environmental education might be contained normative contents, and it is moral subject that treats these normative contents systematically. Then environmental instruction of moral subject in elemental school should be approach and inquire teaching contents related to environment education. In elementary school curriculum of moral subject, teaching contents related to environment are 'preciousness of life' and 'right views of Nature and protection of the environment'. By these contents, moral instruction can approach to life of animal and plants centered on the reason to take them preciously and relation between nature and humans centered on the moral consideration. It is a difference that approaches to the environmental education not by factual understanding but by normative understanding in moral instruction. It must be focused on ethical inquiry for normative approach and reserving identity of moral subject. Necessary conditions for ethical inquiry to the environmental instruction are moral status of things besides humans. For the ethical inquiry to the moral status of nature environments, teachers could be set the logic of instruction based on the developments of environmental ethics. Formal cohesiveness of environmental instruction could be developed in sequence of ethical inquiry on moral status to the life of animal, life of plants, and whole system of nature. For this, teacher could reflect on their instruction focused on some explanations. That is, it is explanation to the animal life based on the individual-extended human oriented ethics for human, plants life based on the individual-non human oriented ethics, whole natural system based on the holistic-non human oriented ethics. When teachers reflect these explanation, they can compose their instruction as 'finding something in common with humans and animals', 'reflection on the attitude to the commons', 'thinking about reasons on the different attitudes to the commons', 'the things that disappear as plants die', 'thinking on values about non organism'. These plan of instruction could be critically reconstruct by other teachers. But environmental consciousness by ethical inquiry should be hold on instruction to the environment reflected on identity of moral subject.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.116
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• pp.437-464
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• 2010

The article, focusing on the theory of Zhong-He, sheds a new light on the philosophy of Daizhen. The theory of Zhong-He, according to the philosophical system of Zhuxi, serves as the theoretical foundation in erecting the apriori moral nature and guiding mental cultivation of subjects. Daizhen, on the contrary, criticizes the doctrine of Zhonghe in Zhuxi's philosophy as it produces negative side-effects of moral dogmatism. Zhuxi's doctrine, according to Daizhen, as it reduce the origin of morality to apriori condition of consciousness and delimit the range of cultivation to psychological realm of subjects, restricts moral subjects in the fortress of their own subjectivity. In this vein of his criticism, Daizhen attempts new interpretation on Zhonghe. The character Zhong (中), according to him, does not refer to apriori moral state or metaphysical moral substance as it does in the doctrine of Zhuxi. On the contrary, it denotes the state in which diverse existent beings are placed in their own position by their own dispositions. Similarly, the other character He (和) does not refer to the condition where an individual's consciousness is in equilibrium, but to the process of achieving the harmony of entire society in which diverse existent beings are communicating to each other. With his novel interpretation of the theory of Zhong-He, Daizhen could dissolve the tradition of Weifa (未發) and moral subjectivism in Zhuxi's philosophy and provide a way of establishing reciprocal communication and harmony between various individuals. It is in his ethics of rational mutual understanding where the significance of Daizhen's philosophy should be found.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.105
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• pp.373-400
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• 2008

This essay is an analysis on Daoist deconstructivism and Confucian constructivism about music and language. (1) Daoist criticizes that the Confucian constructive music and language fail to describe original sounds and original facts of doing nothing (wuwei, 無爲). According to Daoist, music and language can be an instrument to describe true facts in the world. So Daoists try to attain a state of 'seeing things as things themselves (yiwuguanwu, 以物觀物)' by 'forgetting oneself (wangwo, 忘我).' (2) However Confucian music and language is a part of one's life. Confucians try to get truth, goodness, and beauty by exercising one's music and language. Confucian music is associated with political and moral development in society. The Confucian genres of poetry (shi, 詩), appealing letter (shu, 疏), declaring writing (biao, 表), record (ji, 記), and written words (ci, 詞) are processes of developing one's life. Further, Confucian rhetoric of 'Xing (興)' in writing poem shows that one's language can be developed in contexts of one's life. (3) Although music and language is associated with human subjective narratives as if Confucians say, diverse narratives of different subjectivity cannot appear in one's lives if all kinds of narrative is absorbed in Confucian absolute ideological slogan to devide things into good and bad. Accordingly, the Confucian view of music and language can develop diverse narratives when it does not show an inclination toward moral dichotomy preunderstood by Confucian ideology.

• Sijohaknonchong
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• v.22
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• pp.27-55
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• 2005

Visual media are taken the highest position in modem society, Modern poems also have been changed into visual poems, This aspect is the result of considering only individual talents ignoring traditions. Now, new Sigo should be concentrated on the mythological and historical voice from true nature and the body of human being, That is. ut should be converted into an ecological world view resolutely and restored a form of expression granted specific characteristics of our language. Advantages the computer media have brought. that is. equality freedom. human rights. harmony. pro-environmental value. can be maximized by positively accepting an ecological world view of Sijo which had included daily lives and spirits of the nation. Moreover. these all changes of new Sijo have to be established and recreated in the traditional expressions of Sijo. Aesthetic value of Sijo should be found in the expression forms such as phonetic harmony, rules of versification, rhythm, and etc. Then, we can overcome modern society's pathological phenomena such as severance, separation, dissolution, estrangement, psychiatric syndrome and etc. which visual media superiority brought. At the same time. it will cure ills of modern poems, Sijo and writing epochally and can establish true happiness and development.