Seongho Yi Ik’s New Approach to Zhijue 知覺 and Weifa 未發: Stimulation by Western Learning and the Expansion of Confucianism

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

1. A reviewer pointed out that the discussions and points are fragmented and lack a central unifying theme. To clarify the theme of my paper, I changed the title of my paper and try to convey the key concepts of my thesis clearly.
2. A reviewer suggested revising the abstract. I rewrote the abstract according to the suggestion.
3. According to the reviewer's suggestion, I unified key terms like ibal, mibal, and SeonghoSaseol and corrected some mistakes.
4. To clarify the point of lines 693-710, I changed several sentences and revised some expressions.
5. According to the reviewer's suggestion, a native speaker checked the English expressions in this paper.
6. I modified the term “acceptance” according to the context.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This topic is interesting. The author attempts to demonstrate that Seongho’s theory of the heart-mind(心學) combines both the orthodox Neo-Confucianism and Western Learning. The author also intends to find out the intellectual innovation and the intellectual resources in the distinct thoughts of Seongho. However, some discussions in the manuscript are not yet clear. What is the actual achievements in Seongho’ theoretical renovation compared with the theories of heart-mind of Wang Yangming and his followers? What does it mean that Seongho's philosophical acceptance of Western Learning has crossed the boundary of Confucianism-Neo Confucianism? According to me, if Chinese Confucian scholars were interested in the science brought by the Jesuits, it was because prior to their arrival Chinese literati had developed an interest in practical learning. The search for ‘solid learning’ or ‘concrete studies’ (實學 shixue) was a reaction against some intuitionist movements originating from the Wang Yangming school in the late sixteenth century. According to Wang Yangming 王陽明 (1472-1528), the principles for moral action were to be found entirely within the mind-and-heart (心 xin) and not outside. In the early seventeenth century, the influential intellectual and political movement of the Donglin 東林 thinkers re-established the importance of ‘things in the world’. Officials and scholars searched for concrete ways to save the country from decay. Besides, what is the holistic relationship between Chinese concept of ‘qi’, Western concept of pneuma, and the three kinds of heart-minds? Please think about a central theme to bind your discussion into a holistic whole, where in its current form, the discussions and points are quite fragmented and lack a central unifying theme.

Author Response

1. A reviewer asked what the actual achievements in Seongho’ theoretical renovation compared with the theories of heart-mind of Wang Yangming and his followers. One possible answer is that Seongho utilized western physiology to understand the structure and function of the human mind newly. Due to this way, Seongho could more elaborately describe human cognition and moral practice. However, at least Wang Yangming and his followers were hardly interested in the human body or brain.
2. A reviewer asked about the holistic relationship between the Chinese concept of ‘qi,’ the Western concept of pneuma, and the three kinds of heart-minds. Adam Schall’s introduction of pneuma raises a complicated problem due to its dualistic aspect of it. However, qi and pneuma belong to material force or energy, however, unlike qi or pneuma, the rational soul of human beings is a purely immaterial entity.
3. Footnotes 40 and 48 have been added for detailed accounts.