Philosopher
Yi I
1536–1584
Also known as Yulgok
Joseon Neo-Confucian, known as Yulgok, who argued against Yi Hwang that principle and material force always act together: material force issues, and principle rides on it.
Yi I, known as Yulgok, was the second of the two great Neo-Confucians of the early Joseon dynasty, alongside Yi Hwang. Like him, he wrote a guide to becoming a sage, the Essentials of Sage Learning of 1575, and the two works came to epitomise Neo-Confucian learning in Joseon.
He continued the Four-Seven Debate that Yi Hwang had begun with Gi Daeseung, in his own exchange with Seong Hon, who took Yi Hwang’s side. His more pragmatic interpretation grounded moral psychology in the workings of material force, against Yi Hwang’s view that principle can initiate on its own.
Key ideas
- Material force issues, principle rides
- Material force (gi) activates both the four beginnings and the seven feelings. Principle (i) never acts alone: it needs material force as the place where it can settle before it can guide anything, which Yi I put as “material force issues and principle rides on it”.
- Principle pervades, material force shapes
- Principle permeates everything universally, while material force takes particular, concrete configurations.
- One process, not two
- Yi I criticised the dualism implicit in Yi Hwang’s account of two modes of issuance. Principle and material force are inseparable and always active together, so that moral and mental life is one unified activity.
Influences
Where these links come from
- Yi I argued against Yi Hwang. Source: Kevin N. Cawley, Korean Confucianism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Im Yunjidang argued against Yi I. Source: Kevin N. Cawley, Korean Confucianism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Key works
- Essentials of Sage Learning (Sŏnghak chipyo), 1575
Terms on this page
- gi
- Material force (氣), the Korean reading of the Chinese qi. In the Four-Seven Debate, Yi I argued that material force issues both the four beginnings and the seven feelings, and principle rides on it.
- i
- Principle (理), the Korean reading of the Chinese li. In the Four-Seven Debate, Yi Hwang held that it leads material force (gi), and Yi I that it acts only through it.
Sources
- Kevin N. Cawley, Korean Confucianism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy