Four-Seven Debate

Michael C. Kalton is Professor of Liberal Studies at the University of Washington at Tacoma. Oaksook C. Kim is Director of the Korea Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Sung Bae Park is Professor at the Center for Religious Studies, State University of New York at Stony Brook.

"This book introduces to an English-reading audience an extremely important issue in Korean Neo-Confucianism. Moreover, it shows how that philosophical debate was really about practical issues that arise in the course of moral cultivation. I find this book, particularly the introduction, the most lucid account of the origin, course, and significance of the Four-Seven Debate available in any language other than Korean, and it is better than most of the Korean material."The Four-Seven Debate has relevance far beyond Korean intellectual history. This book should be useful to people interested in philosophical or moral issues from a wide variety of cultural traditions. It will bring the Four-Seven Debate to the attention of scholars and writers exploring questions of evil and the human condition who would otherwise have been unaware of it." — Don Baker, University of British Columbia

• Translator's Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction to the Four-Seven Debate BackgroundThe Four-Seven DebateThe T'oegye-Kobong DebateThe Yulgok-Ugye DebateThe Importance of the Four-Seven Debate 1. T'oegye's Letter to Kobong 2. Kobong's Letter to T'oegye on the Four Beginnings-Seven Feelings Thesis 3. T'oegye's Reply to Kobong Arguing the Distinction ofthe Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings in Terms of Principle and Material Force 4. Kobong's Response to T'oegye's Letter Discussing the Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings Postscript 5. T'oegye's Reply to Kobong's Critique of Distinguishingthe Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings in Terms of Principle and Material Force, with a Revised version of His First Letter Revised Draft of T'oegye's First Letter Second Letter Replying to Kobong's Critique 6. Kobong's Response to the Second Letter 7. Kobong's Postscript Explanation of the Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings 8. Kobong's General Summary of the Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings 9. Ugye's First Letter to Yulgok on the Four-Seven Debate 10. Yulgok's Response to Ugye's First Letter 11. Yulgok's Response to Ugye's Second (Missing) Letter 12. Ugye's Third Letter to Yulgok 13. Yulgok's Response to Ugye's Third Letter 14. Ugye's Fourth Letter to Yulgok 15. Yulgok's Reply to Ugye's Fourth Letter 16. Ugye's Fifth Letter to Yulgok 17. Yulgok's Reply to Ugye's Fifth Letter 18. Ugye's Sixth Letter to Yulgok 19. Yulgok's Reply to Ugye's Sixth Letter Letter on Principle and Material Force Notes Glossary Selected Bibliography Index