• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.148
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• pp.1-27
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• 2018

The 10th constitution established in 1987 serves as the theoretical foundation of democracy in South Korea in the 21st century. Respect for human rights, resistance to injustice, and equality consciousness inherent in this constitution do not conflict with the content of Confucian philosophy. This means that the spirit of the constitution of South Korea in the 21st century was formed under the influence of the idea of democracy and Confucian philosophy. However, the 10th constitution attaches importance to the idea of the 'Basic free and democratic order', which was accepted in the Yushin constitution and inherited by the military forces. The Yushin constitution was affected by liberalism that prioritizes freedom over equality rather than supporting the compatibility between freedom and equality. Therefore, policies to expand the interests of the bourgeoisie rather than public welfare or the interests of the public have been implemented frequently. In particular, during the Lee Myeong-bak and Park Geun-hye regimes, many unequal phenomena were mass-produced. Confucian philosophy in the 21st century critically sees this unequal society. Confucian philosophy thinks that a sense of relative deprivation plays a role of alienating humans and emphasizes the importance of equal relationships. In addition, this constitution emphasizes the rule of law. However, the rule of law attaches importance to positive laws when the spirit of the constitution that contains natural law is applied to reality through systems. This rejects autonomous judgments and choices while inducing reliance on heteronomy. These heteronomous laws as such are accompanied by forcibleness. The positive laws as such can degrade humans into passive beings that indiscriminately adapt themselves to frames already set instead of active beings that think freely and creatively. Confucian philosophy regards and criticizes the rule of law as a system that makes humans into a means. Confucian philosophy regards humans as moral beings instead of tools. Confucian philosophy seeks to build a healthy society through morality accomplished through conscious realization of the principles of life. Confucian philosophy regards humans as originally free beings. Therefore, human beings are autonomous beings, not heteronomous beings. According to Confucian philosophy, humans beings that can realize the morality contained in their inner side by themselves to responsibly carry out their own judgments and choices. Therefore, Confucian philosophy, which considers human beings as beings to be trusted instead of beings to be distrusted, attaches importance to the realization of human decency through edification rather than by punishment through the law. This means that human values cannot be kept by the heteronomy termed positive laws but the identity of humans can be maintained by voluntary choices and judgments. As such, the comment of Confucian philosophy on the problems of liberal democracy and positive laws contained in the 10th constitution can be helpful in essentially solving the contradictions of modern South Korean society.