Ignorance and Philosophy / Simone Beille

Although I studied Eastern philosophy a lot, I never revealed it. Strangely, the background of Eastern philosophy felt like it was connected to class authority or superrationality (in other words, irrationality), which hindered social development. I thought it was a problem that should not be assimilated while researching.

 

Every time there was a conservative government in Korea, my vow to maintain political neutrality was broken and I tried to prevent the union of politics and religion. This was especially true for North Korea. In fact, this issue has been plagued by a lot, and the non-physical attitudes of leaders and people, not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in Japan, China, and Russia, have often ignited the world into division and struggle.

 

Hitler, a young painter, quickly discovered the non-physical nature of the people by using his imagination and charisma. He combined himself as a political leader and a religious leader. He also committed a tremendous event called World War II.

 

When I was in high school, I read an interesting biography of Simone Beille, a French social activist and philosopher. I was also impressed by the philosophical (thinking) attitude of her and her teacher, Alain. While studying law, I even lectured on the constitution to civil service students, and whenever I talked about Rousseau's social contract theory or Montesquieu's separation of powers, I envied French philosophy that blossomed early. Back then and now, I felt like I had lived as an eccentric person in an Eastern society that had not evolved due to the interference of ideology and superrationality.

 - These days, I'm disillusioned with ideology and hyper-rationality, so I'm emptying my head while studying engineering, but something funny happened. Twelve years ago, while imitating Alain, I frequently posted brief articles on Blog, one of which was about Mrs. Roland. It is a story that Mrs. Roland leads her husband, a politician, during the French Revolution, and gets deeply involved in politics, but when the opposition party comes to power, she is executed. Roland, the husband, commits suicide after hearing the news of his wife's death penalty. I was surprised to find that the post was deleted from Facebook a few days ago. Also, I thought that empathy was excessive in a country dominated by hyper-rationality. The post was later restored, but I was a little embarrassed and puzzled.

이형춘(Hyeong Chun Lee): 롤랑부인에 대한 검색결과 (hyeong-chun.blogspot.com)

The following is a part of the book written by Simone Petermang, a friend of Simone Beille, and translated by Kang Kyung-hwa.

 

Simone, who used to jump straight to the heart of a problem whenever he tried to solve it, soon began to think about the consequences of war. Thus, it was not Germany under Hitler's dictatorship that threatened the world, but the overall culture that caused Hitler to exercise his dictatorship, and it was difficult to overcome this threat even if a democracy ultimately won without a cool-headed awareness of it.

 

In an article published with this point, [A Study on the Cause of Hitler's dictatorship], Simone raised this issue.

 

"Should humanism want world reunification? We have seen the conquest of the Roman Empire and the formation of a great empire as great achievements, but we have not fully grasped what it really was like. Even though the same way Rome conquered the world is reproduced before our eyes and threatened us, we are not accepting it."

 

Similarly, it is incorrect to say that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a method for unification. When we judge justice, we must return to our most humane form and make judgments. Simone Beille was a philosophical figure who sought the answer.

 

 

무지와 철학 / 시몬느 베이유

나는 동양철학을 많이 공부했음에도 불구하고 절대 드러내지 않았다. 이상하게 동양철학의 배경은 계급의 권위와 연결되어 있거나 초합리성과 연결이 되어 있어서 사회발전을 가로막는 느낌이었다. 연구는 하되 동화되지는 말아야 할 문제 거리라고 생각했다.

 

한국에서는 보수정부가 들어설때마다 정치적 중립을 지키려던 나의 맹세는 깨지고 정치와 종교가 결합하는 일을 막을려고 했는데, 초합리적인 생각이 정치에 결합하므로 사회발전을 퇴보시키는 결과가 나오는 일을 막을려고 했기 때문이다. 특히 북한에 있어서는 더욱 그러했다. 실제로 이 문제로 많은 골머리를 앓고 있기도 하고, 한반도뿐만이 아니고 일본, 중국, 러시아까지 지도자와 국민의 비철학적인 태도로 세계를 분열과 투쟁으로 불을 지펴놓기 일쑤였다.

 

젊은 시절 화가였던 히틀러는 본인의 상상력과 카리스마를 동원하여 국민의 비철학적인 속성을 빨리 간파했다. 그리고 본인을 정치지도자와 교주로 결합하였다. 그리고 이차세계대전이라는 엄청난 일을 저질렀다.

 

나는 고등학교 시절에 프랑스의 사회운동가이자 철학자인 시몬느베이유의 전기를 흥미롭게 읽었다. 그리고 그녀와 그녀의 스승인 알랭의 철학하는(생각하는) 태도에 감명 받았다. 나는 법학을 공부하다가 공무원 수험생들에게 헌법을 강의하기도 했는데, 루소의 사회계약론이나 몽테스키외의 삼권분립을 이야기할 때마다 일찍 꽃피운 프랑스 철학은 부러웠다. 그때도 그렇고, 지금도 그렇지만 나는 이념과 초합리성 때문에 진화하지 못한 동양사회에서 별난 사람으로 살아온 것 같았다.

 

- 요즘은 이념과 초합리성에 환멸을 느껴 공학공부를 하면서 머리를 비우고 있는데, 좀 우스운 일이 발생했다. 12년전에 알랭의 흉내를 내면서 짤막한 글을 블러그에 자주 올렸는데, 그 중에서 롤랑부인에 관한 이야기가 있었다. 롤랑 부인이 프랑스혁명 당시에 정치가인 남편을 이끌면서 정치에 깊이 관여했다가 반대당이 집권하자 사형을 당하게 된다는 이야기다. 그리고 남편인 롤랑은 부인의 사형소식을 듣고 자살한다는 이야기다. 몇일 전 페이스북에서 그 글이 삭제된 것을 보고 깜짝 놀랐다. 그리고 역시 초합리성이 지배하는 국가에서 감정이입이 지나치다는 생각이 들었다. 나중에 글은 다시 복원되었지만 좀 당황스럽고 황당했다.

이형춘(Hyeong Chun Lee): 롤랑부인에 대한 검색결과 (hyeong-chun.blogspot.com) 

다음은 시몬느 베이유의 친구인 시몬느 뻬뜨르망이 책을 쓰고, 강경화 씨가 번역한 책 중의 일부이다.

 

어떤 문제를 해결하고자 할 때면 주저 없이 곧장 그 문제의 핵심에 뛰어들곤 하던 시몬느는 곧 전쟁이 몰고 올 결과에 대하여 생각하기 시작했다. 그리하여 세계를 위협하고 있는 것은 히틀러 독재하의 독일이 아니라 히틀러가 독재를 행사하도록 만든 전반적인 현재의 문화이며, 여기에 대한 냉철한 의식이 없이는 최종적으로 민주주의 국가가 승리한다고 해도 이 위협을 극복하기는 어렵다고 보았다.

 

이러한 요지로 발표했던 글 [히틀러 독재의 원인에 대한 고찰]이라는 글에서 시몬느는 이러한 문제를 제기했다.

 

“인도주의는 세계통일을 원해야 할까? 우리는 로마제국의 정복과 대제국 형성을 훌륭한 업적으로 보아 왔으나 그것이 정말로 어떠한 것이었는지는 충분히 파악하지 못했다. 로마가 세계를 정복한 방식과 똑같은 방식이 우리 눈앞에서 재현되고, 우리를 위협하고 있어도 우리는 그것을 받아들이지 못하고 있다.”

 

마찬가지로 러시아의 우크라이나 침공은 통일을 위한 방식이라고 해도 옳지 않은 것이다. 우리가 정의를 판단 했을 때는 가장 인간적인 모습으로 돌아와서 판단해야 한다. 시몬느 베이유는 철학적으로 생각하며 그 답을 찾아갔던 인물이다.

 

 

Occultism and rationalism

Occultism refers to the pursuit or study of mysterious supernatural phenomena or hidden forces beyond general phenomena. I sometimes described occultism as grotesque because there are phenomena that drive things badly.

 

The war where ideology originated, the war where religion originated, the idolization of North Korea, the manipulation of state affairs in South Korea, and nationalism in China and Japan are related to occultism. Political activities that focus on popular manipulation by emphasizing belief and emotional motivation can also be seen as an area of occultism.

 

Psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung 1875-1961: A delusional schizophrenic who was admitted to the hospital one day, told Jung, 'There is a pennis in the sun and that's where the wind comes from the movement.' Four years later, Jung found the same sentence while reading a prayer book from the Mithra religion of ancient Rome. However, there was no circumstantial evidence that the delusional schizophrenic had read the prayer book. That's because the patient said so before it was translated and published.

 

Jung later considered such a phenomenon to have a common layer of mind among people, and ordered such a layer of mind to be 'universal unconsciousness'.

 

There are people who deliberately manipulate or actively respond to such phenomena, while there are people who are swayed or passively accepting them. The former acts as a pseudo-religious leader, and the latter acts as a gaslighted believer. The problem is that occultism does not involve rational inquiry activities. Psychologist Jung explored it academically, but the public is busy pursuing their own desires, so they miss the opportunity to explore it. As a result, hyper-rationality and idealism become prevalent in competitive societies, societies with poor philosophy, and societies with poor minds.

 

Scientific and occultism coexist in Eastern society where modernization is achieved at a rapid pace, and nationalism, nationalism, or ideological state phenomena can be a good soil for cultivating occultism. This is because a society bound by blind and emotional bonds rather than reason does not 'think'.

 

As a Korean, I think of the tyranny of hyper-rationality while looking at phenomena such as North Korea's ideological and idolization, and South Korea's manipulation of state affairs. And there is something that cannot be reasonably understood when looking at wars in the Middle East.

 

오컬티즘(occultism)과 이성주의

오컬티즘이란 일반적인 현상을 넘어선 신비하고 초자연적인 현상이나 숨겨진 힘 따위를 추구하거나 연구하는 일을 의미한다. 나는 상황을 나쁘게 몰고 가는 현상이 있기 때문에 오컬티즘을 그로테스크(grotesque)라고 표현하기도 했다.

 

이념이 발단이 된 전쟁, 종교가 발단이 된 전쟁, 북한의 우상화, 한국의 국정농단, 중국과 일본의 국수주의 등은 오컬티즘과 연관이 있다. 믿음과 감정적인 동기를 중시하여 대중조작에 몰입하는 정치활동도 오컬티즘의 영역이라고 볼 수 있다.

 

정신의학자 칼 융(Carl Gustav Jung 1875-1961)에 관한 이야기가 있다. 어느 날 병원에 입원한 망상형 분열증 환자가 융에게 ‘태양에는 페니스가 있으며 그것이 움직임으로 인해 바람이 생긴다.’라고 말했다. 4년 후에 융은 고대 로마의 미트라교의 기도서를 읽다가 같은 문장을 발견했다. 그러나 그 망상형 분열증 환자가 그 기도서를 읽은 정황은 없었다. 그 환자는 기도서가 번역되어 출판되기 이전에 그런 말을 했기 때문이다.

 

융은 훗날 그런 현상을 사람들에게 공통된 마음의 층이 있다고 생각하고 그런 마음의 층을 ‘보편적 무의식’이라고 명하였다.

 

그런데 사람들 사이에서는 그런 현상을 의도적으로 조작하거나 능동적으로 대처하는 사람들이 있는 반면에 그런 현상에 휘둘리거나 수동적으로 받아들이는 사람들이 있다. 전자는 사이비 종교 교주의 역할을 하고 후자는 가스라이팅 당하는 신도의 역할을 한다. 문제는 오컬티즘은 이성적인 탐구활동이 개입되지 않는 점이 있다. 심리학자 융은 학술적으로 탐구했지만 대중들은 자신들의 욕망을 추구하는데 바빠서 탐구할 기회를 놓치게 된다. 그래서 경쟁사회, 철학이 빈곤한 사회, 정신이 병든 사회에서는 초합리성이나 관념성이 만연하게 된다.

 

근대화가 빠른 속도로 이루어진 동양 사회에서는 과학성과 오컬티즘이 공존하는 현상을 보이는데, 민족주의나 국수주의 아니면 이념국가 현상은 오컬티즘을 배양하는 좋은 토양이 될 수 있다. 이성보다는 맹목적이고 감정적인 유대감으로 결속된 사회에서는 ‘생각하려고’ 하지 않기 때문이다.

 

한국인으로서 북한의 이념성과 우상화, 한국의 국정농단 등의 현상을 보면서도 초합리성의 횡포를 생각하지만 중동지방의 전쟁을 보면 도저히 합리적으로 이해할 수 없는 점이 있다.

 

The evolution of ideas / Neo-Confucianism and the Korean Peninsula

From a practical point of view, Confucianism, which caused the harmful effects of terrible abolitionism in Korea, has evolved in China, the place of origin.

 

Originally, there were many ideas to correct the difficult and chaotic world of China's Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, of which Confucianism was the most rational and practical. It laid the foundation for centralization and class system, emphasizing Let's protect the national system and save the people and loyalty as its code of conduct.

 

Cho Kwang-yoon, the first king of Song, who founded China's Song Dynasty, saw the Tang Dynasty destroyed by commanders at the periphery, so he made the most of his literary subjects to strengthen centralization and established the Confucian philosophy of Neo-Confucianism to further strengthen royal authority and class society and reduce its practicality. As a result, China's Song Dynasty had a living history of paying tribute to the marginal nomadic peoples of Khitan and Yeojin, and eventually being destroyed by the nomadic peoples of Mongolia.

 

The Khitan, who had been offered tributes to the Song Dynasty, failed to invade Goryeo, the Korean dynasty, and the aftershock was very afraid of Goryeo's perfect defense posture. However, at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, there were many new noble peers who studied Neo-Confucianism from the Song Dynasty, and they became the foundation of the founding of Joseon. Joseon therefore maintained its royal authority for a long time based on stronger centralization and weakened practicality before going out of business.

 

However, during the Ming Dynasty in China, Neo-Confucianism developed into Yangmingism that emphasized knowing and working must be combined and gradually gained practicality. Then, during the Qing Dynasty, which was founded by the nomadic Manchu (Yeojin), it evolved into a historical study that emphasized Seek truth based on facts according to the atmosphere of the time.

 

Kang-Hside, the Accompiled King of the Qing Dynasty, studied science and technology by honing his own martial arts. After Kang-Hside, the Qing Dynasty spent its heyday until Ongjeongje and Qianlongje, and was assimilated into the Han Chinese, an absolute majority and not very robust ethnic group, and went on a path of closure.

 

Later, the actual truth-finding idea of the Qing Dynasty entered Joseon in Korea and was studied as a practical study called practical study to reform the irrational and ideological Joseon society. However, Joseon, where Neo-Confucianism was so deeply rooted in society, persistently maintained a stubborn Neo-Confucian class society that was not shaken by any wind. Nevertheless, scientific monarchs of Joseon, such as Sejong, sometimes passed down great legacies to their descendants, such as making Hangul.

 

Zhou Enlai, who later reformed Mao Zedong's disastrous Chinese Communist Party, played a major role in understanding this historical background, demonstrating due diligence, and reforming it into today's China.

 

However, there has been a movement in Korea to change into an irrational Korea by transforming it into an ideological or religious form without overcoming the classism, centralization, and conservatism of Neo-Confucianism. The Korean people and politicians must be awakened. I had a very interesting experience watching a drama about the war between the Khitan and Goryeo in Korea these days. It can be said that Goryeo was a unified Korea, and it has many implications for the divided Korean Peninsula, swayed by unrealistic mouths and ideas.