Yi-gi debates

Korean philosophy

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Article History

Yi-gi debates, series of religious and philosophical arguments about the essential (yi; Chinese li: “principle”) or existential/material (gi, or ki; Chinese qi: “vital breath”) nature of reality conducted by two groups of Korean Neo-Confucians in the 16th and 17th centuries. They paralleled similar arguments in Chinese Neo-Confucian thought and, as in China, often had political implications. The difference between the two positions came down to a distinction between an essentialist, idealist, and conservative perspective favoring a priori and absolutist values and an empiricist, pragmatic, and liberal perspective favouring the adaptive relativity of all mental constructs.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Brian Duignan.