KJCKorea
Journal Central

This paper is a study that attempts to understand and resolve the issue of emotions through the dimension of emotion itself. In East Asian philosophy, emotions follow a trajectory similar to the relationship between reason and emotion found in Western philosophy. Personal decision-making and social order, which are based on rational language, have tended to view emotions as mental states that must be governed by reason or as secondary elements. This paper reexamines existing topics in Pre-Qin philosophy with a focus on emotion. It seeks to explain the emotions that guide behavior in representative Pre-Qin texts such as Mencius, Xunzi, and Mozi. Based on references to the importance of emotion in moral practice found in these texts, the paper examines their specific content. To narrow the scope of discussion, this paper analyzes the emotions necessary for moral practice by explaining the methodologies for practicing ren (benevolence), li (ritual propriety), and jian'ai (impartial care)—the representative concepts of Mencius, Xunzi, and Mozi respectively—not through the language of reason or intelligence, but through the language of emotion.

he philosophy of the Dao is intrinsically without demarcations; a principle articulated in the Qiwu Lun (“The Adjustment of Controversies”) chapter of the Zhuangzi: “The Dao at first met with no responsive recognition.” However, divergent human viewpoints lead to the emergence of zhěn (畛, demarcations). This paper addresses the central question of how these divisions can be reconciled and comprehended within ultimate unity. First, the paper utilizes the concept of zhěn (man-made boundaries) as an example to discuss the relationship between being and non-being. The formation of zhěn establishes antithetical pairs-such as right/wrong, good/evil, and beauty/ugliness. Yet, from the viewpoint of the Dao, being and non-being coexist and mutually transform, negating any absolute distinction. Secondly, the paper examines the concept of qiáng (牆, wall) to explore the relationship between reality and nothingness. While the wall itself is real, the space it encloses is void. It is within this void, or nothingness, that demarcation appears and divides space. The paper then discusses the meaning of tōng (通, comprehension) through the Fu Hexagram (復卦, Hexagram for Return) from the I Ching. The Fu Hexagram, which symbolizes the cyclical return of vitality and life, illustrates a tōng that represents the regularity and cyclical movement by which all things sustain existence. Finally, as the philosopher Thomé H. Fang indicated (referencing the Dazongshi chapter), it is only on the common ground of equality that one can grasp the “mysterious situation” where everything achieves unity with the Great Pervader.

The identity theory of truth clearly reveals the close connection between the world and truth, but at the same time it is theoretically instable in identifying between heterogeneous entities i.e. facts and propositions. Unlike the moderate identity theory that places facts in the realm of meaning, Trueman proposes an immodest identity theory that regards facts as states of affairs. While Trueman claims that his version of identity thesis is directly derived from the concepts of propositions and facts properly comprehended, Sullivan criticizes his theory for its ambiguity, especially in that it takes the concept of ‘world’ in two different meanings: ways things are and ways the world is thought to be. I will analyze that the ambiguity of the concept of ‘world’ in Trueman's theory stems from the dilemma that the identity theory innately faces. This dilemma is not limited to the immodest identity theory but is bound to occur throughout all kind of identity theory. Therefore, not only Truman's theory but also the identity theory in general can not be evaluated as a correct analysis of the truth.