『장자』에 나타난 민(民)의 덕(德)과 정치역량 - 외편의 「변무」등 4편을 중심으로 -

Abstract

In the philosophical tradition of East Asia, de (德) has generally been understood as a key concept of Confucian ethics only. However, Daoists had also developed their own ideas of de. In this article, I examine the unique idea of de, as it appears in the Primitivist chapters of Zhuangzi, and try to consider its political implications. Within Confucianism, de refers to the inner inclination and capacity to act morally. It has to attained through the process of self cultivation and learning. Confucius required it as a personal quality for politicians - a quality that is special and uncommon, and can only be attained by a small number of people. This implies that, within the political sphere, the qualified and unqualified must be distinguished, and that the people(民) - representing the majority of community members - are to be excluded from the political and public sphere so that they cannot be become political subjects. Against this Confucian thought, the Primitivist author of Zhuangzi defines de as the capacity to, and activity of, live spontaneously which people naturally have as part of their inborn nature(性). It is described as the capacity to weave for their clothing, to till for their food. In this sense, de is a capacity that is shared by everybody, and that which needs not to be developed but discovered. In Primitivist writings, there is a political idea that we must not overlook. It is the idea that people have the ability to discuss and debate with their own mouths. The mouths of the people not only have the function of eating to live, but also have the function of speaking, and only when the two capacities are unified, the people can be established as political subjects. The Primitivist author tries to overcome the elitism that Confucianism displays on the issue of the political subject and attempts to illustrate the clues that make it possible to think about the capacity of the people as political subjects. Through this examination we can approach the socio-political vision proper to Zhuangzi, thus going beyond the viewpoint that regards the book to read as a nonpolitical text.

동아시아의 철학적 전통 속에 나타난 덕 개념을 연구하려고 할 때 대개 주목하게 되는 것은 유가철학이다. 다른 어떤 사유 전통보다도 유가철학에서 덕 개념을 가장 두드러지게 확인할 수 있을 뿐 아니라 유가철학의 핵심이라고 할 수 있는 윤리론의 체계 자체가 덕 개념을 기초로 하고 있기 때문이다. 특히 최근 서구의 윤리학적 담론에서는 덕 윤리의 관점에서 동아시아의 윤리적 전통에 접근하면서 주로 유가의 덕 개념에 관심을 집중시켜 왔다. 그러나 동아시아에서 덕 개념은 유가의 전유물은 아니다. ꠓ노자ꠗ가 언제부터인가 도경(道經)과 덕경(德經)의 두 부분으로 구성된 체재를 갖추게 되었다는 사실만 보아도 알 수 있듯이, 동아시아의 철학적 전통의 큰 축을 담당해온 도가 역시 덕을 자신들만의 고유한 철학적 개념으로 발전시켰다. 본 논문에서는 ꠓ노자ꠗ와 함께 도가의 대표 문헌으로 간주되어 온 ꠓ장자ꠗ에 주목하여 이 텍스트에서 발견되는 독특한 덕 개념에 대해 살펴보고 그 철학적 함의에 대해 생각해 보고자한다.