Congratulations on completing your first step into Korean Philosophy!

Congratulations on completing your first steps into Korean philosophy!

We’ve briefly discussed many aspects of Korean philosophy and culture over these four weeks. In the first week, we looked at the increasingly globalized perspective on philosophy, with non Western ways of thought becoming more legitimized around the world. We compared Korean philosophy first with Western philosophy, then with Chinese philosophy.

In week 2, we learnt about the types of innovation present at the cultural boundaries of Korea and China, with “Sungkyun” as an example of Adaptive Innovation, and the Korean alphabet “Hangeul” as an example of Disruptive Innovation.

In week 3, we delved deep into the core debates of Korean philosophy, the Four-Seven Debate and the Horak Debate. There were many questions that were part of these monumental debates in Korean philosophy, specifically surrounding the source of our moral emotions in relation to our everyday feelings, as well as developing the idea of our moral nature in comparison to other beings, such as other individuals or even other animals.

Finally, in week 4, we reviewed what we learnt, then looked at how the Korean way of thought is exemplified in the language itself. The concept of the “Korean We”, Uri, is something I hope was interesting to learn about.

That brings us to the end of this course. Thank you all for your perseverance and participation in these 4 weeks of lessons. Which topics and themes that we’ve learnt so far did you find the most interesting? Do feel free to share any feedback you have for this course in the comments below, and I hope to see you again!