Jang Il-soon (1928-1994) is a practical thinker who recognized the importance of life and put it into practice before environmental problems were properly recognized in our society. He deserves to be called an ‘anti-philosopher’ in that he tried to change his way of life based on the reinterpretation of existing truths rather than a producer of truth. His pioneering thought is highly significant in that he is still influencing “the life-movement” of contemporary civil society as he did in his own period. He left his mark on political participation and peace movement, but he devoted himself to the life movement from 1977 until his death. In particular, his thought has philosophical significance in that he is a thinker who provides the ideological basis for “the life movement” in Korea. In this paper, we examine the occasion of Jang Il-soon’s launching the ecological movement (Chapter 2) and the influence of Catholicism and the Wonju Camp (Chapter 3 ) as well a s of C onfucianism, Buddhism, T aoism and Donghak (Eastern Learning), which all served as the roots of the life-philosophy that became the source of his awareness of life. It will deal with unity and egalitarianism (Chapter 4), which are the main characteristics of his thought. Although a long time has passed since Jang Il-soon passed away, his idea is still valid and is becoming more an issue of enormous significance in our lives. A study on his thought is important in finding a new model of ecological movement that is applied to our life, reality, and locality.

“The Life-Movement” , Ecology , Wonju , Donghak , Wholeness of Life