• American Studies
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.159-191
• /
• 2021

"In the United States, you almost never say that virtue is beautiful," Alexis de Tocqueville reports in Democracy in America. Yet Ralph Waldo Emerson, arguably the most prominent American moralist in the nineteenth century, stands as an exception to Tocqueville's generalization. This article explores Emerson's perspective on beauty in the moral education of democratic citizens. His interest in this aesthetic category partly stemmed from his deep concern about both the moral inaction and interest politics in commercial culture. As a response to the crisis, Emerson conceived ethical beauty as a key promoter of public-minded democratic citizenship as exemplified by the American abolitionists, and his own practice as a poetic moralist further illustrates this belief. Emerson's aesthetic approach to the cultivation of public virtue in liberal democracy offers a meaningful comparison to contemporary neo-Tocquevillian emphasis on the language of interest or duty.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
• /
• no.30
• /
• pp.7-36
• /
• 2010

Cho Gwang-jo(趙光祖, 1482-1519) was the moralist who had the purest conscience and aimed the devoted politics among many fellow Confucianists of Chosun Dynasty. He even criticized his teacher who was in his late forty years for not being able to control his emotions when he was just a teenager. That is to say, he was the one who have kept his cold reasons for entire life. Nevertheless, as mentioned before, Cho Gwang-jo was very faithful to his emotions and also very honest. We find that he was definitely emotional. He demanded to change the relationship between the king and the courtier to the one between the father and the son with humane communication. He expressed his mind and emotion he had used to have at the moment of his death: he loved his king just as he loved his father. However, the king, Joongjong, was indifferent at the human's emotion as if he was a senseless figure. That was the saddest frustration and grief he had. However, his grief did not remained just as the mere grief but again survived as the hope for the survivors and descendants with the big echo. In this respect, his gried did not just end as the grief but it can be said that it even revived itself as the strength and courage. Then, Cho Gwang-jo's life as a human being was never a failure. Moreover, his grief and agony did not just remained as the vain emotion and sadness.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
• /
• no.57
• /
• pp.41-66
• /
• 2014

The Purpose of this paper is, through the character-figuration aspect of existing Yeoheon Jang Hyungwang(旅軒 張顯光, 1554~1637)-related folk tales, to determine the relation between the people's awareness on Yeoheon and the change in the folk tales. Only 4 pieces of Yeoheon-related folk tales are existed ; ; Forgiving a rude son of the provincial governor generously. ; Predicting 'the frost of May' and Preventing the cold-weather damage, when he served as Euiseong governor, and ; The folk tales of origins of the place name - Chimabawi Rockand Yeoheondae. shows the great scholar's liberal-hearted and generous personality. One day Jang Hyungwang looked shabby and a young person was quite rude to him. But Jang Hyungwang forgive him generously. Also Yeoheon teach him the thrift and modesty. described him as a governor filled with a love for the people. He tried to edify the people with the Confucian ethics and improve the life's work of the people. embodied him as a government official of high integrity. When his wife received the silk slip from the people, as farewell gift, he ordered his wife return that. and show the images of the Predicting the future and an extraordinary moralizer. Generally These folk tales are based on his personality, whereabouts and the real case. So we could find his images in the folk tales are close to his actual feature - thrift, modest, noble-minded, well-versed in Iching and practicing moral statesmanship.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
• /
• no.57
• /
• pp.407-435
• /
• 2014

Gusadang Kim, Nak-Haeng is a scholar of 18th century in Yeongnam region who wrote about 130 Chinese poems. In this study, I searched Gusadang's inner world by interpreting his Chinese poems. His life is closely related to his father Jesan Kim, Seong-Tak who was exiled. The fact that he devoted himself to his father for 10 years shows he had strong standards in making decisions in life. In short, Gusadang was a person who looked gentle but was tough inside and he remained firm in his faith even with outside pressure. He could not achieve glory because he spent time serving his father in his thirties. Although he heard compliments from others that he was talented enough to succeed as a scholar, he lacked time and mental energy to study. Also, he was a moralist and wrote some poems about impressive events in his life even though he did not fully devote himself to writing poems. In this study, I searched his inner world focusing on how he felt and thought about outside world by analyzing his poems. In conclusion, I found three characteristics from his poems. Firstly, depressed feelings are shown based on excessive self-consciousness in the poems related to his father. Secondly, his will to keep balance in life is shown because he wanted a harmonious life as a seeker after truth. Thirdly, a sense of isolation is shown because he had to keep a distance from outside world.