마음의 발달과 도덕교육

The Development of Mind and Moral Education - The Sequence of Learning in the 『Great Learning』 and the Development of Mind

이 글은 『大學』이 함의하고 있는 마음의 발달의 의미를 분석하고 그 의미와 도덕교육의 관계를 밝히는 데에 목적이 있다. 『대학』에 의하면, 마음의 발달은 오직 교육 안에서 설명되며, 그 발달과정은 형이상학적 기준의 내면화와 사회적 확산의 두 차원에서 동시에 설명된다. 발달의 두 차원은 삶이 지향해야할 이상적 표준과 타인과의 관계를 전제한다는 점에서, 그 자체가 도덕적 의미를 지닌다. 마음의 발달은 교과교육을 통해서 이루어지며 발달과정이 바로 교과교육과정이라고 하면, 교과교육은 곧 도덕교육이라고 할 수 있다.

The purpose of this study is to interpret the relation between development of mind and moral education. The 『Great Learning』 implies two dimensions of development of mind, which can be designated as the internalization in the one, and extension of mind to the world in the other. The two dimensions of development of mind presuppose the ideal standard of life and a context of personal relation. For understanding the development of mind, it is very important to disclose the ambiguity of the conjunctional concept of hereafter (而后) inherent in the 『Great Learning』 . The 『Great Learning』 leaves open the possibilities of interpreting the conjunctional concept, hereafter (而后), both as the temporal order and the logical order. The former describes the developmental process of an individual mind. The latter describes the standard or the ideal state of human mind. The latter emphasizes the transcendental nature of mind or reality as an ultimate standard of development. In this interpretation, the development of mind can be conceived from two aspects, which may be called the temporal sequence and the metaphysical standard respectively. In a word, the development of mind implies that the individual learner actively pursues and internalizes the metaphysical standard in the temporal sequence of development. The 『Great Learning』 also implies two dimensions of development of mind. The one explains the cultivation of mind. The other explains the extension of mind to the world. This point must have a significant bearing in understanding the development of mind, for the two dimensions are brought together to the process of development of mind. This interpretation poses a question of explication of the relationship between the two dimensions of development of mind, the one is the vertical dimension of development of mind, that is the process of internalization, and the other is the horizontal dimension of development of mind, that is the extension of mind to the world. The two dimensions of development of mind, implied in 『Great Learning』 , are not only compatible but mutually supported toward a fuller understanding of the total process of development. The two dimensions of development of mind put differential emphases on the metaphysical standard and on the extension of mind respectively. So the internalization of mind and the extension of mind to the world can be best understood, not as separate processes of development of mind, but as different dimensions of same process of development of mind, without which an understanding of development of mind is impossible. According to the 『Great Learning』 , the development of mind can be regarded as the investigation of things and extension of knowledge (格物致知). The developmental process of mind is the process of investigation of things(格物). The investigation of things means a scripture-learning. In this view, the teacher is first and foremost a man devoting himself to the internalization of standard by investigation of things. His ability to teach is nothing but a direct exemplification of his own investigation of things. The teacher is the embodiment of standard rather than the transmitter of information. In other word, the teacher must be the Sage as the educational ideal, who is the philosopher devoting himself to cultivation of mind. The student also internalize the standard by investigation of things.