When Korea began as a newly independent state in 1948, its economy was very underdeveloped and the rule of law was just established. The journey of democratization in Korea was not without challenges. This book traces the history of the legal philosophy development in Korea and highlights Korea's unique experience. This book shows how Western legal philosophy has been accepted in Korea, a non-Western country that has newly introduced the Western legal system and what role the legal philosophy has played in social context. The book also examines academic scholars' intellectual activities in a historical context and how their intellectual products are yielded through their continuous response to the circumstances of the time. It specifically looks at the many challenging tasks legal philosophers had to overcome in a society when the rule of law and democracy had not yet settled. The book explores how Korean legal philosophers coped during such unique historical situations. It also illustrates how Korean scholars accepted German and Anglo-American legal philosophies and integrated them to change social realities of Korea. Through Korea’s experience, this book will provide insights into how modern legal philosophy develops in a new state and what legal philosophers' responses would be like during such a process. The developing process of legal philosophy in Korean society will interest not only readers in countries who have had similar experiences to Korea, but also readers in the West.

This unique volume of original essays presents in-depth analyses of representative periods, problems, and debates within the long and rich history of Korean philosophy. It provides the reader with a sense of the problems that motivated thinkers within the tradition and the kinds of arguments that characterize their reflections. With contributions from some of the best and most significant contemporary Korean philosophers, this volume marks an important new stage in the Western-language study and appreciation of Korean philosophy. In order for philosophy to be understood and appreciated as philosophy it must at some point be presented and evaluated as the human effort to understand problems through a process of careful and sustained analysis and argument. This anthology offers Western readers the first opportunity to meet and engage with traditional Korean Buddhist and Confucian philosophy on these terms.

This book explores Neo-Confucianism and its relationship to politics by examining the life and work of the two iconic figures of the Joseon dynasty Yi Hwang (1501-1570, Toegye) and Yi I (1536-1584, Yulgok). Neo-Confucianism became state orthodoxy in 1392, and remained in place for over five centuries until the end of the dynasty in 1910, thereby shaping the Korea of today. Toegye and Yulgok founded the two main schools of Josean Neo-Confucianism, which became the most dominant schools of thought in Korean history. In shedding new light on the important relationship between these two iconic figures, Hyoungchan Kim offers an important new examination of Korea today, which will be essential to those interested in the philosophy and history of Korea.

A collection of original essays developing a Confucian political and legal theory, focusing on South Korea, traditionally the most Confucian East Asian country in its legal, political, and cultural practices.

The book Philosophy of Law presents relevant theories, puts emphasis on the analysis of the branches of law and of basic human rights, and proposes the holistic analysis of law. In the first part the author analyses the main elements of each theory (natural law, legal positivism, legal realism, legal formalism, legal liberalism, economic analysis of law, critical legal studies). The main philosophers of law or supporters of each theory are discussed. In the second part of the book human rights and jurisprudence are analysed in the context of public law, criminal law (e.g., death penalty), private law and international law. The holistic analysis of law is proposed as a theory to address modern problems, such as poverty, climate change, the pandemic, and other global issues. The book is designed primarily for law students, teachers and supervisors.

Hermann Cohen (1842–1918) was a leading figure in the Neo-Kantian philosophical movement that dominated European thought before 1918. He is also the inaugural figure for what is meant by "modern Jewish philosophy" in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book explores Cohen’s striking claim that ethics is rooted in law – a claim developed in both his philosophical ethics and his philosophy of Judaism, in particular in his writings on "love-of-neighbor," up to and including his well-known Religion of Reason. Dana Hollander proposes that neither Cohen’s systematic philosophy nor his "Jewish" philosophy should be seen as the dominant framework for his oeuvre as a whole, but that his understanding of key philosophical questions takes shape in the passages between both corpuses, a trait that could be seen as paradigmatic for modern Jewish philosophy. Ethics Out of Law taps into one of the prime topics of current interest in the field of Jewish philosophy: the nature of Jewish political existence and the changing configurations of "law" that this entails.

Comparative political theory has grown into a recognized discipline in its own right in the last two decades. Yet little has been done to explore how political theory engages with the actual social, legal, and political reality of a particular polity. East Asians are complexly conditioned by traditional Confucian norms and habits, despite significant social, economic, and political changes in their contemporary lives. This volume seeks to address this important issue by developing a specifically Confucian political and legal theory. The volume focuses on South Korea, whose traditional society was and remains the most Confucianized among pre-modern East Asian countries. It offers an interesting case for thinking about Confucian democracy and constitutionalism because its liberal-democratic institutions are compatible with and profoundly influenced by the Confucian habit of the heart. The book wrestles with the practical meaning of liberal rights under the Korean Confucian societal culture and illuminates a way in which traditional Confucianism can be transformed through legal and political processes into a new Confucianism relevant to democratic practices in contemporary Korea.