An Introduction to the Thought of Sun Myung Moon Unification Thought and V.O.C. Theory [OLD]

Chapter I

THEORY OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGE

            Unification Thought aspires to present Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s teachings concerning the divine providence in a systematic, philosophical way. Unification Thought is also called Godism or Headwing Thought. Godism means that God’s truth and his love are the core of this thought; Headwing Thought implies a thought system that is neither rightwing nor leftwing but embraces both sides from a higher perspective.

By offering a fundamental solution to all of humanity’s serious problems, Unification Thought aims at creating an ideal world of eternal peace and freedom. In order to offer such a fundamental solution to humankind’s numerous headaches, it is essential to first achieve a correct understanding of God as the Original Being. Therefore, Unification Thought begins with the Theory of the Original Image, which deals with God’s attributes. That section includes “The Content of the Original Image,” which explains the content of both the Divine Image and the Divine Character, and “The Structure of the Original Image,” which explains the correlative relationship between God’s attributes.

      I.      The Content of the Original Image

A.                 The Divine Image

Among God’s attributes, the Divine Image corresponds to the aspect of form. God remains invisible to the human eye; however he possesses a definite form and the potentiality (raw material) and determinative nature that make possible the appearance of form. The Divine Image contains two sets of dual characteristics, namely sungsang and hyungsang and yang and yin, which together form the Universal Image, as well as the Individual Image.

1. Sungsang and Hyungsang

God’s sungsang and hyungsang are called the Original Sungsangand the Original Hyungsang respectively; both together are called dual characteristics. The relationship between God and all things is that of the Creator to his creation, but it can also be seen as a relationship between cause and effect. Seen from this perspective, the Original Sungsang represents the fundamental cause of the invisible, functional aspect of created entities, while the Original Hyungsang represents the fundamental cause of the visible, material aspect of created entities.

1. a) Sungsang

            The equivalent of God’s sungsang (the Original Sungsang) in human beings is the human mind. The Original Sungsang represents the ultimate cause of the invisible aspect of all created entities. Specifically, it is the original cause of the human mind, animal instinct, plant life, and the physiochemical character of minerals. In other words, God’s Original Sungsang unfolds itself on different levels of the world of time and space in the physiochemical character of minerals, the life of plants, the instinct of animals and the human mind. Next, God’s sungsang can be divided into inner sungsang and inner hyungsang. This forms the inner structure of the sungsang.

(1)   The Inner Sungsang

The inner sungsang, the functional, subject part of the mind, consists of the functions of intellect, emotion and will. The intellect pertains to the faculty of cognition, namely perception, understanding and reason. Perception refers to the ability to know things as reflected by the five senses; understanding means the ability to conceptualize by reaching logical conclusions; reason is the faculty that allows us to seek for universal truths by the process of abstraction. Emotion, on the other hand, is the faculty of feeling, i.e., the ability to feel joy, sorrow, anger, pleasure, etc., while will is the faculty of volition, i.e. the faculty to desire, intend, and determine.

(2)   The Inner Hyungsang

The inner hyungsang refers to the formal, object component within the mind, which essentially consists of ideas, concepts, principles, and mathematical notions. Ideas are concrete representations, or reflections of individual created entities within the mind; concepts are abstract representations, while fundamental principles are the original cause of the natural laws operating in the created world and of the normative laws related to the determination of value. Numerical or mathematical notions are the ultimate cause of the numerical aspect of the natural world and contain an infinity of numbers, numerical values, and mathematical formulas.

1. b) Hyungsang

            If we consider God’s hyungsang (the Original Hyungsang) by analogy to the human condition, we could say that it corresponds to the human body, and thus represents the fundamental cause of the visible parts of all created entities. As it unfolds on different levels in the world of space and time, God’s hyungsang is represented by the atoms and molecules of the mineral realm, the cells and structure of plants, the flesh and bones of animals, and the body of human beings. In this sense, God’s hyungsang is the fundamental cause of the material element within created entities. This fundamental cause itself consists of two components: the material element and energy.

            Since God’s hyungsang is the original cause of the material element of all things, we can speak of a “stage prior to matter.” On the other hand, today’s science suggests that the root cause of material things can be found in the basic energy making up elementary particles. Hence, God’s hyungsang can also be considered as that which precedes the energy used to create material things, in other words the “stage prior to energy” or more simply “pre-energy.” In Unification Thought, this is called prime energy. When this prime energy manifests itself by acting in all things, it is called universal prime force.

1. c) The Difference between Sungsang and Hyungsang

At this point, we will consider whether sungsang and hyungsang are essentially homogenous or heterogeneous, which will lead us to discuss the issue of monism vs. dualism and other ontological questions. For Unification Thought, the Original Sungsang and the Original Hyungsang are two manifestations of one homogeneous core element, just as steam and ice are two manifestations of the same element, H₂O (water). In the same way, God’s dual characteristics of sungsang and hyungsang are but two manifestations of his absolute nature, i.e., two manifestations of the same core element. The absolute nature of God can be expressed as energic mind, or conversely as mental energy. Energy and the mind do not exist as distinct entities; they are essentially one. In the process of creation, the absolute nature of God separates as God’s mind (sungsang) and God’s body (hyungsang). When considered from the perspective of ontology, this viewpoint can be called “Unification Theory.” When considering the situation prior to creation, when God’s absolute attributes were manifesting nothing but themselves, it would be appropriate to speak of a “Theory of Oneness.”

If, on the other hand, we follow Aristotle in trying to reach the ultimate cause of hyungsang and matter, we will end up with pure hyungsang (form) and prime matter. Here, pure hyungsang, or pure form, means God, but a God that is pure act entirely devoid of materiality, i.e., nothing but pure thought. For Aristotle, this pure thought is thinking on thinking, or thought of thought. Accordingly, prime matter is entirely independent from God, i.e., Aristotle’s ontology is fundamentally dualistic.

Thomas Aquinas based his philosophy on that of Aristotle and similarly considered pure form and the thinking on thinking to be God. And, like Augustine, he asserted that God had created the world ex nihilo, i.e., “out of nothing.” But, when seen from the viewpoint of contemporary science that considers the universe to be composed of energy, the dogmatic assertion that matter has appeared out of nothing appears difficult to sustain.

René Descartes considered that there are three substances, i.e., God, spirit, and matter (or extension). Ultimately, he consideredthat God is the only substance. But in the created world, spirit and matter, while both being dependent upon God, were understood by him to be entirely separated from each other, which means that he upheld a form of dualism. Explaining how the two, spirit and matter, could communicate at all thus became a source of great perplexity.

Accordingly, the notions of form and matter, or spiritual and physical reality, as conceived by Western philosophy, have led to several contradictions. The Unification Thought notions of Original Sungsang and Original Hyungsang offer a solution to that crucial issue in that they are introduced as two different manifestations of one identical fundamental element.

2. Yang and Yin

Sungsang and hyungsang are direct (primary) attributes of God, but yang and yin (masculinity and femininity) are his indirect (secondary) attributes, while at the same time being direct attributes of sungsang and hyungsang. Precisely speaking, God’s sungsang (the Original Sungsang) has both yang and yin as its attributes, and God’s hyungsang (the Original Hyungsang) equally carries yang and yin as its attributes. Just like the primary dual characteristics, yang and yin also form a harmonized oneness (neutrality). Just as in the case of sungsang and hyungsang, this notion has the connotation of harmony and unity and corresponds to a state of oneness before the act of creation was conceived. In the process of creation, this oneness is separated into the attributes of yang and yin.

In Unification Thought, yang and yin are seen as the attributes of sungsang and hyungsang. In the created world, sungsang and hyungsang are seen as constituted by individual substances, while yang and yin represent the attributes of these. Contrary to this view, in Eastern philosophy, yang and yin are considered sometimes as substances and sometimes as attributes, without a clear distinction between the two. For instance, the sun (a substance) is considered yang, but the sun’s brightness (an attribute) is also considered yang; fire (a substance) is considered yang, but so is its heat (an attribute).

Thus, in Eastern philosophy, there are many instances where man is equated with yang and woman with yin. In Unification Thought, however, man is called a substantial being with yang nature, and woman is called a substantial being with yin nature. On the surface, the way Eastern philosophy considers man and woman and the way Unification Thought does may appear similar, but they are actually entirely different. In Unification Thought, man and woman both possess sungsang and hyungsang characteristics, as well as yang and yin characteristics, but only on the sungsang level are man and woman qualitatively different in terms of yang and yin. Man’s yang and yin nature is a “masculine” type of yang and yin, and woman’s yang and yin nature is a “feminine” type of yang and yin. Thus, man, carrying both a yang and yin nature, is a yang-type united body of sungsang and hyungsang, while woman, likewise carrying both a yang and yin nature, is a yin-type united body of sungsang and hyungsang. Simply stated, man can be considered as a substantial yang being and woman as a substantial yin being.

On the level of hyungsang, the difference between man and woman is a quantitative difference of yang and yin. Indeed, on the level of hyungsang (the body) both man and woman have yang elements as well as yin elements, but man has more yang elements and woman has more yin elements.

3. The Individual Image

Since sungsang and hyungsang, as well as yang and yin, are common to all entities, these two sets of God’s attributes are called the Universal Image. On the other hand, all things differ from each other in terms of their characteristics, shape, etc. according to their kind and type. Human beings, too, have individual variations in terms of their stature, body shape, facial expression, personality and the like. Accordingly, the ultimate cause of the individual features of human beings and all things is located within God’s Original Sungsang, more particularly within its inner hyungsang. This individual nature is called the Individual Image. Also, while in human beings the Individual Image consists of the varied individual characteristics of each person, among all things (besides humans) the Individual Image consists of kind-specific differences, i.e., the characteristics that are proper to one particular species.

Even though the Individual Image can be called the specific character of each individual entity, it is not a particular characteristic in addition to the Universal Image; rather, the Universal Image itself becomes individualized. For example, the different features of the faces of human beings are the individualized hyungsang (Universal Image), made specific in that particular face; the differences in human personality are the individualized sungsang (Universal Image), made specific through a particular character or disposition.

Thus, in the created world, the Individual Image appears as an individualized Universal Image because, within God’s inner hyungsang, the essential factor (Universal Image) of this individualizing process directed towards created things acts so as to individualize God’s sungsang and hyungsang and his yang and yin natures. Hence, God’s Universal Image can be called the Original Universal Image, and God’s Individual Image which resides in his inner hyungsang, can be called the Original Individual Image. Finally, the reason why every human being’s individual personality should be absolutely respected is because it has its origin in the Individual Image stemming from God.

B.                 The Divine Character

God’s nature is not limited to the aspect of form (the Divine Image), but also includes the aspects of function, character and ability. This is what is meant by Divine Character. God’s nature encompasses such qualities as omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, supreme goodness, supreme beauty, supreme love, and universal justice, and God is described as Lord of Creation and Lord of Judgment. However, God’s most important characteristics are Heart, Logos, and Creativity.

1. Heart

Heart is the very core of God’s attributes, particularly of his sungsang; it is the “emotional impulse to create joy through love.” An emotional impulse is an irrepressible longing or desire springing forth from one’s innermost being. In God, this impulse to create joy begins with the impulse to love. In no way is love a means to obtain joy; it is nothing but an unconditional impulse. Joy is the inevitable consequence of love. Thus, the impulse to love is the irresistible longing to love, i.e., the irresistible desire to be with one’s object of love.

Thus, God created humankind and all things with Heart as his motive. This is called the Motivation of Heart Theory. Based on this theory, it is possible to explain and solve the age-old controversies on the origin and creation of the universe.

Let us next consider the notion of universal prime force. If we make a comparison to the world of physics, it would correspond with the universal force of gravitation. It can be considered an extension of God’s prime energy. However, since God’s prime energy comes into existence on the basis of the energy of his heartistic impulse, similarly in the created world the universal prime force does not merely act as a physical force; the force of love is also at work in it.

Heart being the core of God’s sungsang, it is also the foundation for the existence of intellect, emotion, and will. In this way, a culture that comes into being through the action of intellect, emotion, and will and realizes true value can only be a culture of Heart. With Heart as its motive, a world endowed with the original character of creation will have as its goal the practice and realization of love. Its culture will be a culture of Heart, of love, and of harmony.

2. Logos

According to the Divine Principle, Logos stands for “rational principle” or “the Word.” In Unification Thought, too, Logos is the Word, i.e., God’s thought, his idea, and his design; and it is a rational principle, which refers to reason and law. Saying that Logos is thought or idea, or an ideal blueprint, means that it is also a resultant entity, a new creation and, in some way, part of the created world. This also means that Logos, as a multiplied body, resembles God’s dual characteristics. It can be understood as the united body formed by the inner sungsang and the inner hyungsang within the Original Sungsang. The subject–object relationship between the inner sungsang and the inner hyungsang corresponds to the relationship between reason and law. When reason and law are united centering on a specific purpose, they represent the dual characteristics of the Logos.

            Since all things were created through the Logos, which is the union of reason and law, elements of both reason and law are included, in a unified way, in all created entities. Hence, reason and law, as one, are actively involved in the existence and action of all created entities. The factor of law (rules) is more involved in the case of lower entities, while the factor of reason is more involved in the case of entities of a higher order. Therefore, the existence and activity of all things come about through the union of freedom and necessity, the purposeful and the automatic. Thus, freedom is at work within necessity and purposefulness within that which is automatic. Though one generally considers that law restricts freedom, this is a false impression due to ignorance of the original principles operant between the two.

3. Creativity

Creativity refers to the creative power by which God formed the universe and human beings. In other words, it is his power to produce new entities through give-and-take actionbetween his dual characteristics. Through this give-and-take between God’s dual characteristics, inevitably a four-position foundation is created; the capacity to create a four-position foundation centering on a purpose that is based on Heart is called creativity. It is also the ability to produce inner and outer give-and-take action between the Original Sungsang and the Original Hyungsang, centering on purpose, and thus to realize an inner and outer four-position foundation.

God endowed human beings with creativity for them to dominate all things. This original dominion over all things means being able to treat them with original love, i.e., acting with original love. This includes farming, manufacturing, production, reorganizing, construction, invention, maintenance, transportation, preservation, artistic production, etc. In dealing with all things, original human beings are constantly required to produce new ideas based on love. Therefore, God’s creativity is absolutely needed for the attainment of original dominion.

However, due to the human fall, humans failed to fully inherit God’s creativity, Heart and love, and they ended up becoming self-centered, self-absorbed beings. The development of weapons of mass destruction, environmental pollution and similar evils can be seen as consequences of the misuse of the creativity bestowed by God. By merely displaying the rational aspect of creativity but having lost the purpose centered on Heart humans can never bring about true creativity. The present-day world will only overcome its crisis when self-centered individualism is eliminated and creativity and dominion centered on the love of God are developed. Only then will a world culture of original true love become a reality.

   II.      The Structure of the Original Image

The Structure of the Original Image refers to the mutual relationship between God’s attributes, sungsang and hyungsang in particular. The reason for analyzing the mutual relationship between these attributes is not only to get a precise understanding of God’s attributes, but also to offer a fundamental solution to present-day problems from a relational perspective.

A.                 Give-and-Take Action and the Four-Position Foundation

1. The Give-and-Take Action between Sungsang and Hyungsang

Once sungsang and hyungsang have established a correlative relationship and have created a correlative standard, they come to “exchange something with each other.” This is give-and-take action. A correlative relationship is formed when two elements, or two individual entities, face each other as subject and object; a correlative standard is formed when such a relationship has been established centered on a common purpose. In the correlative relationship within the Original Image, sungsang is in the position of subject and hyungsang is in the position of object.

In order for a subject (sungsang) and an object (hyungsang) to establish a give-and-take action, the two distinct positions of subject and object are needed. If the two poles stand on an equal footing, give-and-take will not result. In give-and-take action, the subject stands in the position of being active, while the object stands in the position of being passive. Concretely speaking, if the subject is ‘central’ the object is ‘dependent,’ if the subject is ‘dynamic’ the object is ‘static,’ if the subject is ‘positive’ the object is ‘negative,’ and where the subject is ‘creative’ the object is ‘conservative.’ Also, where the subject is ‘extroverted’ the object is ‘introverted.’ Simply stated, the subject is in the position to exert dominion while the object is in the position to be receptive and responsive.

Furthermore, the give-and-take action within the Original Image has the qualities of perfection, harmony, and complete smoothness. Hence, such phenomena as opposition, contradiction, conflict, and the like cannot exist within give-and-take action. Accordingly, the original give-and-take action between sungsang and hyungsang is a reciprocal relationship centered on purpose. It is harmonious and not conflictive. If strife and opposition appear between two elements, common elements such as Heart or purpose cannot be at their center. Through an action of struggle within a conflictive being that lacks purpose or a center, development is absolutely impossible. Development occurs when, and only when, a subject and an object, centering on purpose, have give-and-take action as mutual partners.

2. The Realization of the Four-Position Foundation

The give-and-take action between sungsang and hyungsang involves a center (i.e., a common central point) and a result (i.e., a result produced by the give-and-take action between sungsang and hyungsang). The four positions of center, sungsang, hyungsang, and result are necessarily established. The mutual relationship between sungsang and hyungsang, established through these four positions, is called the four- position foundation. The position of sungsang is called the subject position; that of hyungsang is called the object position. As a result, the four-position foundation is the mutual relationship between subject and object, based on the four positions of center, subject, object, and result.

In the give-and-take action between subject and object, a clearly defined center and a clearly defined result will be present. The position of the center of give-and-take action is occupied by Heart or by the purpose of creation based on Heart. When Heart is the center, the result is called the united body; when purpose is the center, the result is called a new being (entity) or a multiplied body. In the created world, the united body refers to the being, existence, maintenance, unity, spatial movement, and permanence of all things, while the multiplied body refers to the emergence of a resultant entity, i.e., a new element, phenomenon, or individual being, which implies growth.

B.                 Basic Types of Four-Position Foundation

1. Identity-Maintaining Four-Position Foundation and Developmental Four-Position Foundation

The four-position foundation can be divided into the two basic types of identity-maintaining and developmental. As we have already seen, the give-and-take action between sungsang and hyungsang produces two kinds of resultant entities, depending on the nature of the center. These are the united body and the multiplied body, the first appearing when Heart is the center and the second being produced when the purpose of creation is the center.

This means that there are two types of give-and-take action, namely that which occurs when Heart is the center and the united body is the result, and that which occurs when purpose is the center and a multiplied body is the result.

When the united body is formed, both the sungsang and the hyungsang remain the same before and after the action of give-and-take. By being combined, the two are merely united into one. On the other hand, when a multiplied body is formed, the resultant entity that appears after the give-and-take action is, in essence, entirely different. Thus, through the action of give-and-take, a new entity is brought into existence. The give-and-take action that produces the united body is thus called the identity-maintaining give-and-take action, and the give-and-take action that produces the multiplied body is called developmental give-and-take action. From the point of view of position, the identity-maintaining give-and-take action refers to an identity-maintaining four-position foundation, while the developmental give-and-take action refers to a developmental four-position foundation (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Identity-Maintaining Four-Position Foundation and Developmental Four-Position Foundation

2. Inner Four-Position Foundation and Outer Four-Position Foundation

Among the two basic types of four-position foundations are the inner four-position foundation and the outer four-position foundation. On an internal level, God’s sungsang consists of the inner sungsang, which is the subject or functional part, and the inner hyungsang, which is the object part, while on an external level God’s sungsang engages in give-and-take action with the hyungsang. The sungsang thus realizes a four-position foundation both internally and externally. When the sungsang and the hyungsang engage in a mutual relationship centered on a common element, be it internally or externally, give-and-take action necessarily results. The former is called inner give-and-take action; the latter is called outer give-and-take action. Accordingly, from the point of view of position, the inner give-and-take action refers to an inner four-position foundation and the outer give-and-take action refers to an outer four-position foundation (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Inner and Outer Four-Position Foundation

Resembling the inner and outer structure of the Original Image, created entities without exception form an inner and outer four-position foundation centering on the purpose of creation. This comes from the fact that the inner and outer four-position foundations of the Original Image represent the basic standard from which the forms of existence of all created entities are derived. Thus, the inner and outer four-position foundations of the Original Image are called the two-stage structure of the Original Image (Fig. 3). In its resemblance, the inner and outer four-position foundations of created entities are called the two-stage structure of existence (Fig. 4).

Fig. 3: The Two-Stage Structure of the Original Image

Fig. 4: The Two-Stage Structure of Existence

C.                 Types of Four-Position Foundation

Thus, besides the identity-maintaining and the developmental four-position foundations, there is another basic set consisting of the inner and the outer four-position foundations. According to the Divine Principle (or simply Principle), we thus reach the conclusion that there are four basic types of four-position foundations: The inner identity-maintaining four-position foundation, the outer identity-maintaining four-position foundation, the inner developmental four-position foundation, and the outer developmental four-position foundation.

1. The Inner Identity-Maintaining Four-Position Foundation

This type is a combination of the inner and the identity-maintaining four-position foundations. In other words, the inner four-position foundation within the Original Sungsang is identical to itself, i.e., unchanging. This type of foundation is called “inner” because it is realized within the mind, and it is called identity-maintaining because it is realized through the give-and-take between the inner sungsang (subject) and the inner hyungsang (object) centering on Heart, the result being the formation of a united body. Thus a united body of the inner sungsang and the inner hyungsang realized through the identity-maintaining foundation within the mind is called inner identity-maintaining four-position foundation. It is the internal structure of the sungsang.

2. The Outer Identity-Maintaining Four-Position Foundation

This type is a combination of the outer and the identity-maintaining four-position foundations. It refers to the four-position foundation that is established externally by the sungsang with the hyungsang, as an outer four-position foundation that remains identical to itself, i.e., unchanging. It corresponds to the state of the Original Image immediately prior to God’s creation of all things, when the sungsang and the hyungsang have together realized a harmonious unity. This is the internal structure of the Original Image.

3. The Inner Developmental Four-Position Foundation

This type is a combination of the inner and the developmental four-position foundations. This type of four-position foundation is called “inner” because it is realized within the mind, and it is called developmental because it is realized through the give-and-take between the inner sungsang (reason) and the inner hyungsang (law) centering on purpose, the result being the formation of a new body. This four-position foundation, within the Original Sungsang, has the nature of being active and leading to development. Needless to say, the center of the inner developmental four-position foundation consists of a purpose centered on Heart, i.e., the purpose of creation. At this stage, the emerging new body is merely the Word that creates the universe, also called Logos. It is the conception that directly precedes the creation of the universe. Thus, the inner developmental four-position foundation is the internal structure of the Logos.

4. The Outer Developmental Four-Position Foundation

This type is a combination of the outer and the developmental four-position foundations. It refers to the four-position foundation that is established externally by the Original Sungsang with the Original Hyungsang, and it is called outer because it refers to a four-position foundation where a new, multiplied body is created through the give-and-take between the sungsang and hyungsang. It is an outer four-position foundation that has the nature of being active and leads to development. The purpose of creation naturally forms the center of the outer developmental four-position foundation, and the new body that is produced consists of all things of creation. Hence, the outer developmental four-position foundation is the internal structure of the creation of all things.

1. a) The Two-Stage Structure of Creation

In God’s creation, the inner developmental give-and-take action always precedes the outer developmental give-and-take action. Therefore, the inner developmental four-position foundation and the outer developmental four-position foundation are always formed in that sequence. Thus, the inner and outer developmental four-position foundations together, acting in successive stages, are called the two-stage structure of creation in the Original Image (Fig. 5). Similarly, when human beings create, they first develop a blueprint or a concept in their mind as the first stage of creation and, based on that, they proceed with the second stage in which they actually accomplish their creative work. Thus, the two-stage structure of creation is the base on which humans produce, create, and act upon anything.

Fig. 5: The Two-Stage Structure of Creation

D.                Origin-Division-Union Action

The four-position foundation is the spatial conception of the give-and-take action between the four elements of center, subject, object, and result. Besides that spatial component, all phenomena also have a temporal aspect. Give-and-take action understood from a temporal perspective is called origin-division-union action. Among the four elements constituting give-and-take action, the center is established first. Next, the subject and the object are divided and begin to interact. Finally, the result appears. Thus, the three-stage process of give-and-take action is the origin-division-union action. Consequently, four types of origin-division-union action are formed, similar to the types of four-position foundation. These four types are: the inner identity-maintaining origin-division-union action, the outer identity-maintaining origin-division-union action, the inner developmental origin-division-union action, and the outer developmental origin-division-union action (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Origin-Division-Union Action

The real meaning of the notion of origin-division-union action, which is related to time, becomes particularly evident when it is compared to the notion of thesis – antithesis – synthesis in communism’s Historical and Dialectical Materialism. The latter resulted when Marx’s materialist philosophy was linked to Hegel’s dialectic, and it is this dialectic that formed the logical foundation that led to the idea of thesis – antithesis – synthesis. In the Materialist Dialectic, that idea means that through contradiction development occurs and that the opposing elements of thesis and antithesis unite through struggle, thus giving birth to all things. In reality, however, communists neglect unity and only consider the development through conflict and struggle to be the basis for Dialectical Materialism. This, of course, is in disagreement with the Unification Thought notion of development. In Unification Thought, the two elements necessary for development are not opposing elements, but elements that form a mutual relationship. Development, as seen from that perspective, can only occur when there is harmonious give-and-take action between a subject and an object, i.e., between elements forming a mutual relationship.

Also, any thing or object can only develop through the smooth give-and-take between a subject and an object, centering on a common purpose. In Dialectical Materialism, the notion of purpose in development is rejected. However, if there is no purpose, development is impossible. As a result, communism’s Dialectical Materialism has failed to explain concrete situations involving the phenomenon of development. A major alternative to it is Unification Thought’s origin-division-union, which considers give-and-take action from the perspective of time.

E.                 Unity in the Structure of the Original Image

The realm of the Original Image transcends time and space. Hence the notion of structure, when applied to it, can only be expressed by using time and space as an analogy, and it can be summarized by the expression of unity. Since there is no space in this realm, there is no position either, and notions such as before and after, right and left, up and down, inside and outside, wide and narrow, or far and near do not exist; neither do such things as a triangle, a rectangle, or a square. It is a realm where the infinitely large and the infinitely small coincide, and where the entirety of space comes together in one point. At the same time, it is a realm where up and down, before and after, right and left, and inside and outside extend without limits.

Similarly, the realm of the Original Image is without time. Thus by analogy, to use the language of time, past, present and future, are united in the one moment of the “now.” There is eternity in an instant and the two notions are intimately linked. They are actually identical. This means that the world of the Original Image is one of pure permanence in a state of oneness (that of the united sungsang and hyungsang, and yang and yin). The pure permanence of that state is the notion of time in the realm of the Original Image. In summary, the realm of the Original Image is a “pure united body.” In other words, all phenomena of the universe, including time and space, originate in that one united point. The four-position foundation and origin – division – union action unfold into time and space starting from this one point.

 

Chapter 2

ONTOLOGY

Ontology is the study of the basic rules governing existing beings or entities and their common characteristics. In Unification Thought, each individual thing is called an existing being or entity. Hence, ontology is the theory that relates to these entities. According to the principle that all created beings resemble God, they also resemble the polarity and correlativity of the dual characteristics of the Original Image. To the extent that it resembles the polarity of God’s dual characteristics, each individual being or entity is called an individual embodiment of truth. To the extent that individual beings together resemble the correlative nature of the Original Image, they are called a connected body. Thus, in summary, ontology is the theory dealing with individual embodiments of truth and connected bodies.

1.       The Individual Embodiment of Truth

An individual embodiment of truth is an entity that resembles the Universal Image (the dual characteristics) and the Individual Image of the Original Image. It thus necessarily contains sungsang and hyungsang, and also yang and yin, i.e., the two sets of correlative elements, as well as the Individual Image.

1. Sungsang and Hyungsang

Resembling the Original Image, all created entities possess the two aspects of sungsang and hyungsang. Sungsang represents the invisible aspect (that of function, disposition, nature, etc.), while hyungsang represents material, structure, shape, and other visible aspects. First, in the mineral kingdom, the sungsang appears in the form of physio-chemical reactions, while the hyungsang appears as the structure and shape of matter constituted of atoms and molecules. The sungsang specific to plants is life. Their specific hyungsang consists of cells and the organism constituted by these cells, their structure or, simply stated, the plants’ shape and appearance. Thus, plants possess not only their own specific sungsang and hyungsang; at the same time, they also include the sungsang and hyungsang elements proper to the level of minerals. As for the animals, their specific sungsang is instinct and their specific hyungsang is their shape, structure, etc., including sense organs and nerves. Naturally, besides their own specific sungsang and hyungsang, animals also include the sungsang and hyungsang belonging to the levels of minerals and plants. In the case of human beings, the specific sungsang consists of the mind of their spirit self (the spirit mind) and the specific hyungsang consists of the body of that spirit self (the spirit body). As for human beings’ physical existence, the sungsang is called the physical mind, while the hyungsang is the physical body.

In that case again, humans not only have their own specific sungsang (the spirit mind) and hyungsang (the spirit body), they also include all the general sungsang and hyungsang characteristics proper to the levels of minerals, plants, and animals. Thus, human beings embody all elements of created entities and can be regarded as the integration of all things or a microcosm of the universe. Moreover, as the level of existing beings becomes higher – from minerals to plants, animals, and human beings – the content of the sungsang and hyungsang increases with each step or stratum. This is called the layered structure of sungsang and hyungsang in existing beings or entities, as illustrated in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7: Layered Structure of Sungsang and Hyungsang in Existing Entities

1. Yang and Yin

All things resemble the yang and yin nature of the Original Image and exist through a mutual relationship between a substantial yang entity and a substantial yin entity. Thus, animals exist through the relationship between male and female, plants exist through that between stamen and pistil, molecules through that between cations and anions, and atoms through the mutual relationship between the positive and negative protons and electrons.

As indicated in the chapter on the Original Image, yang and yin are also dual characteristics of God. At the same time, though, they are attributes of sungsang and hyungsang. Hence, sungsang and hyungsang each contain yang and yin. In the case of human beings, if man is first considered as a substantial yang being and woman as a substantial yin being from the point of view of the hyungsang, the difference between the two is obvious, because of their quantitative difference. Man’s body has more yang elements than the woman’s body, and the woman’s body has more yin elements than man’s. Contrary to this, in the realm of sungsang (emotion, intellect, and will), the difference between man and woman is qualitative. For instance, in terms of the yang-type quality of having a bright mind, the brightness itself is shared equally by both man and woman, but the quality of that brightness is different. In the case of man, there is a tendency to focus on the larger scope of things, while women tend to analyze things more in detail.

Similarly, in all things, yang and yin appear as the attributes of sungsang and hyungsang. As attributes of sungsang, yang and yin appear as fast and slow movements respectively in the case of animals, as growth and withering in plants, and as fast or slow physio-chemical reactions in the mineral world. Yang and yin also appear as attributes of the hyungsang of all things, as in the following examples: protruding parts and hollow parts, high and low, front and back, bright and dark, hard and soft, active and passive, clear and cloudy, hot and cold, day and night, summer and winter, heaven and earth, and mountains and valleys.

The process by which God created the universe, harmoniously mixing yang and yin elements, can be compared to a majestic work of art or to a great symphony. The harmonious interaction of yang and yin is indispensable for the production of change and development and for the expression of beauty. This leads to the conclusion that God placed yang and yin as attributes of sungsang and hyungsang in order to express harmony and beauty through them.

1. Subject and Object
2. The Three Primary Characteristics of the Individual Embodiment of Truth

Since all things exist within time and space, individual embodiments of truth possess yet another type of correlative pairs. That pair consists of the principal element and the subordinate element. These three subject – object pairs, i.e., sungsang and hyungsang, yang and yin, and principal element and subordinate element together form the three basic kinds of correlative relationships with which every individual embodiment of truth is necessarily endowed. In terms of their content, subject and object come under one of the following types:

First, there is the original type, which can be found in God’s creation as the eternal relationship between the universal subject and object. For example, we have the relationship between parents and children, husband and wife, teacher and pupils, stars and planets, the nucleus of a cell and the cytoplasm, and the nucleus of an atom and its electrons.

Second, there is the temporary type, which corresponds to a situation such as the relationship between a lecturer and his audience, which lasts during the time of the lecture.

Third, there is the alternating type, which corresponds to a situation like a conversation between two persons where the positions of subject and object change.

Fourth, there is the arbitrary type in a situation where human beings can freely decide which side is subject and which side is object. For instance, in the relationship between animals and plants, animals discharge carbon dioxide, which is given to plants, and plants, in turn, discharge oxygen, which is given to animals. From the perspective of the flow of oxygen, plants can be regarded as subject; but from the perspective of the flow of carbon dioxide, animals are subject.

2. The System of Individual Embodiments of Truth in the Created World

All existing entities must have the correlative relationships of subject and object consisting of sungsang and hyungsang, yang and yin, and principal and subordinate. Let us now consider some concrete examples of subject – object relationships ranging from the largest or highest level, that of the cosmos, to the level of the infinitesimally small, that of the elementary particles.

No matter how large, the cosmos is also an individual embodiment of truth. It consists of the spirit world and the physical world. The spirit world is the universe that cannot be seen with our eyes; the physical world is the universe that can be seen with our eyes. The two stand in a subject – object relationship. The universe (the physical world) is itself also an individual embodiment of truth. The universe has a center, and nearly 200 billion nebulae similar to our galaxy are revolving around it. In this particular case, the center of the universe is the principal element, and each galaxy is a subordinate element.

Likewise, the Milky Way, in which we live, is its own individual embodiment of truth consisting of a nucleus (the principal element) and about 200 billions stars revolving around it (the subordinate element). In the solar system, we have the sun and the nine planets, and the earth has a core and a crust. In both cases, this implies a principal element and a subordinate element. In the family, we have parents (principal element) and children (subordinate element), husband (yang element) and wife (yin element), which are two instances of the subject – object relationship. In the same way, our physical body consists of the brain and the body’s limbs, and a cell consists of a nucleus and the cytoplasm. The nucleus itself consists of chromosomes and nuclear sap. Each chromosome consists of DNA and proteins. DNA consists of nitrogenous bases, sugars, and phosphates. The atom contains protons and electrons and, on the lowest level, elementary particles also consist of a principal element and a subordinate element.

Accordingly, in the created world, there are various strata containing innumerable individual embodiments of truth, ranging from the smallest realm of elementary particles to the vast cosmos, all containing the correlative elements of subject and object (Fig. 8). On the other hand, when seen from the perspective of an individual embodiment of truth of a higher level, an individual embodiment appears as a mere component of that higher entity. The reason for this is that each individual embodiment of truth resembles the two-stage structure of the Original Image, thus containing a subject – object pair within themselves, while at the same time externally maintaining a subject – object relationship with other entities. This dual (internal and external) subject – object relationship of individual embodiments of truth is expressed as the two-stage structure of existence of created entities.

Fig. 8: The System of Individual Embodiments of Truth in the Created World

3. Give-and-Take Action

When two individual entities standing in a correlative relationship of subject and object engage in the action of exchanging specific forces or elements, this is called give-and-take action. Through this give-and-take action, all things exist, multiply, change, and develop. There are also several types of give-and-take action, depending on whether the subject and object act consciously and out of their own volition or not:

First, there is the bi-conscious type, which applies to a classroom situation where the teacher is subject and the students are object. In that case, both sides act consciously.

Second, there is the uni-conscious type. When the teacher writes on the blackboard, there is also a give-and-take action between him and the chalk he is using, only in that case there is consciousness on the part of the teacher, but not the chalk.

Third, there is the unconscious type, in which animals and plants unconsciously exchange carbon dioxide and oxygen. In such cases, even if one side or both have consciousness, the exchange itself occurs unconsciously.

Fourth, there is the heteronomous type, when neither the subject nor the object has consciousness and they both engage in give-and-take action through the volition of a third party. This applies to the relationship between the sun as subject and the earth as object.

Fifth, there is the contrast or collation type. When someone compares two or more things and discovers a certain harmony amongst them, these things can be considered as being engaged in some sort of give-and-take action. Hence, it is called the contrast or collation type give-and-take action.

4. Correlatives and Opposites

An individual embodiment of truth inevitably contains the elements of subject and object, i.e., correlatives. With respect to the assertion that in everything there must be two different elements, Unification Thought and the Materialist Dialectic have similar views, but they differ in their understanding of development. If we affirm that a common purpose is included, the two elements are correlatives; if not, we must call them opposites. Also, if the reciprocal action of the two elements is harmonious, it is give-and-take action between correlatives; if not, the action is of a dialectical nature. If both elements find themselves in the subject position, a conflictual relationship between opposites will occur; if their positions are different, the correlatives of subject and object will result. In essence, nature affirms the law of reciprocity, rather than the law of dialectics.

1. The Connected Body

When an individual embodiment of truth interacts with another individual embodiment of truth and realizes an outer four-position foundation, it is called a connected body. There are four different types of connected bodies, i.e., the connected body as seen from the perspective of structure, purpose, relationship and direction, and position.

1. The Connected Body Seen from the Perspective of Structure

When considered from the perspective of the structure of existence, all things are a connected body. When an individual embodiment of truth has realized an internal four-position foundation and then an outer four-position foundation by establishing a relationship with another individual embodiment of truth, this individual embodiment of truth comes to resemble the two-stage structure of the Original Image and is called a connected body.

1. The Connected Body Seen from the Perspective of Purpose

When seen from the perspective of the purpose of creation, all things represent a connected body. From the perspective of purpose, every individual embodiment of truth necessarily has dual purposes, i.e., the individual purpose and the purpose for the whole, which are related to the connected body. From the above, we can understand that the purpose for the whole should have priority over individual purpose. Also, within the purpose for the whole, there is a hyungsang purpose for the whole and a sungsang purpose for the whole. On each level, from elementary particles to the entire universe, created things exist for the sake of forming a created being of a higher dimension. But, at the same time, they exist for the sake of human beings. The former corresponds to a hyungsang purpose for the whole; the latter corresponds to a sungsang purpose for the whole.  

1. The Connected Body Seen from the Perspective of the Direction of the Relationship

In realizing an outer four-position foundation, human beings establish a give-and-take action in six directions: above and below, front and back, and right and left. Above are one’s parents, superiors and seniors; below are one’s children, subordinates and juniors. In front are one’s teachers, leaders and more experienced colleagues; behind are one’s disciples, followers and less experienced colleagues. On the right are one’s brothers and sisters, one’s friends, and one’s co-workers; on the left are those who disagree with us, those who oppose us, and those whose personality does not fit ours. Thus, each human being connects with others in six different directions. In this way, an individual embodiment of truth is also a connected body.

1. The Connected Body Seen from the Perspective of Position

From the perspective of order and position as well, all things are a connected body. The universe is an orderly system; the same can be said of a family, a group, or a country. Within such an organized system, each individual being takes the position of an object when facing a subject, and the position of subject when facing an object. Therefore, within such a system, each individual being will at the same time have the position of subject and that of object. In this way, an individual embodiment of truth is at the same time a connected body.

 III.      The Mode of Existence

The mode of existence is a concept that only applies to the created world that exists in time and space. When the give-and-take action among God’s attributes is manifested in the world of creation, it takes on the appearance of time and space. The give-and-take action within the Original Image is smooth, peaceful, and harmonious. When it appears as time and space in the created world, it takes on the shape of circular motion. Circular motion is thus the mode of existence of created beings.

1. Circular Motion

When, in the created world, two elements standing in the positions of subject and object enter into give-and-take action centering on purpose, a united body appears as a result. In the course of this give-and-take action, subject and object are actually the only two elements involved. Standing in the central position, purpose is itself not an existing entity, and the union or united body is merely a state resulting from the give-and-take action. The center of that give-and-take action does not reside midway between the subject and the object, but within the subject itself. This is the reason why motion resulting from give-and-take action manifests itself as circular motion centered on the subject. The perfect give-and-take of sungsang and hyungsang, centering on Heart (purpose) within the Original Image is manifested symbolically in its harmony and perfection through circular motion in the world of time and space.

1. The Types of Circular Motion

Practically speaking, each created entity can successfully fulfill its purpose of creation (purpose for the whole and for the individual) by performing a circular motion in two ways:

1. Basic Circular Motion
2. a) Circular motion in space: examples are the repetitive rotation or revolution of material entities such as the heavenly bodies and elementary particles. Here, the identity-maintaining give-and-take action within the Original Image takes on spatial features.
3. b) Circular motion in time: the repetition of life cycles and the succession of generations in living organisms come under this category. Here, the developmental give-and-take action within the Original Image takes on a temporal, spiral form.
4. Transformed Circular Motion
5. a) Motion with a fixed nature: this motion takes place when an individual entity strives to fulfill its purpose of creation. This is the case when a satellite remains on a fixed trajectory (e.g., in the case of atoms or the cells constituting the organism of any given living being).
6. b) Motion with an alternating nature: the term is used to describe the circulation of blood and lymph, or the flow of nutrients in plants, in which cells form the equivalent of circular movement (similarly, the circulation of goods and currency in economic life).
7. c) Spiritual circular motion: in human beings, the give-and-take action between the spirit mind and the physical mind is not material circular movement, but rather takes place as the physical mind responds to the requests of the spiritual mind (e.g., the harmonious interpersonal give-and-take in the family and in society).
8. Rotation and Revolution

When an entity performs circular motion, it always involves, simultaneously, rotation and revolution. This is because each entity is at the same time an individual embodiment of truth and a connected body, i.e., it performs internal and external give-and-take action at the same time. The circular motion that is performed through internal give-and-take is called rotation and the circular motion performed according to external give-and-take is called revolution.

1. The Position of Existence
2. The Position of Existence Seen from the Point of View of the Connected Body

In the created world, the different positions of subject and object that are present in the Original Image are manifested as an orderly system. Each entity is at the same time an individual embodiment of truth and a connected body and therefore finds itself both in the position of object and that of subject. As a result, countless individual bodies are connected to each other in terms of up and down, front and back, and right and left, and thus form an orderly system of positions. Thus, the universe consists of innumerable connected bodies with a specific position. These connected bodies resembles the two-stage structure of the Original Image and exists as its extension, possessing the same two-stage structure, making the universe into one gigantic orderly system.

1. Order in the Universe and Order in the Family

Order in the universe is realized both vertically and horizontally. For instance, the order that is realized by reaching from the infinitesimal subatomic particles to the universe as a whole is vertical order, while the arrangement of the nine planets around the sun, for example, represents horizontal order. Vertical order is realized as follows: atoms → molecules → minerals → satellites (the moon) → planets (the earth) → stars (the sun) → galaxies (the Milky Way) → the center of the universe. Horizontal order, centering on the sun, goes as follows: Mercury → Venus → Earth → Mars → Jupiter → Saturn → Uranus → Neptune → Pluto (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9: Examples of Vertical and Horizontal Orders in the Universe

The family structure is a miniature of the universe and the universe is an enlarged form of the family. Therefore, the family also has both vertical and horizontal order. Grandchildren, children, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents are connected vertically; brothers and sisters within a family form a horizontal structure around the parents (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10: Vertical and Horizontal Order within the Family

In the universe, order and peace are maintained through the law of perfect and harmonious give-and-take action. This is the “Way of Heaven". In the family as well, peace is maintained through the law of the give-and-take of love, i.e., through an ethical principle. This principle of love means ethics; thus, ethics and the “Way of Heaven” correspond to each other.

1. Universal Law

Universal law, or the “Way of Heaven” is the law that maintains the vertical and horizontal order of the universe, the law of give-and-take action (or simply law of give-and-take). This law, or principle can be subdivided as follows into seven characteristics, each one of these representing a subordinate law.

1. Correlativity. Every entity not only possesses the correlative elements of subject and object within itself, but also engages in external correlative relationships of subject and object with other entities.
2. Purposefulness and Centrality. The correlative elements of subject and object always possess a common purpose and perform give-and-take action centering on that purpose.
3. Order and Position. Every existing entity has its own position and thus maintains a certain order.
4. Harmony. The give-and-take action between subject and object is smooth and harmonious. There can be no opposition or struggle in that relationship, because God’s love is always at work in it.
5. Individuality and Connectedness. Every individual entity, while maintaining its own inherent characteristics, has relationships with other entities and interacts with them.
6. Identity-Maintaining Nature and Developmental Nature. Every organic body maintains, throughout its life, an unchanging or identity-maintaining nature; at the same time, as it grows, it also has the aspect of change and development, hence a developmental nature.
7. Circular Motion. In the give-and-take action between subject and object, the object revolves around the subject and performs circular motion in space or in time.

Universal law originates in the action of Logos. Behind it we find the action of love, because when God created the universe through Logos, he was motivated by Heart and love. When applied to the individual, this law appears as morality; when applied to the family, it takes the form of ethics. In sum, the principles of the universe and the ethical laws of the family correspond to each other.

 

Chapter 3

THEORY OF THE ORIGINAL HUMAN NATURE

            The Theory of the Original Human Nature studies our nature as it would have been originally, i.e., had there not been a human fall. From the original standpoint, each person is a being with Divine Image, which resembles the Image of God, and a being with Divine Character, which reflects the character of God. We are also beings with position, and this resembles the characteristic of position in the Original Image.

1.       A Being With Divine Image

All created entities are individual embodiments of truth resembling the dual characteristics of God. Human beings, too, are embodiments of truth, and thus resemble the Divine Image, which consists of sungsang and hyungsang, yang and yin (the Universal Image) and the Individual Image. Originally, each person should thus be a being of united sungsang and hyungsang, a being of harmonized yang and yin, and a being with individuality.

1. A Being of United Sungsang and Hyungsang

Resembling God’s sungsang and hyungsang implies that human beings are made up of a mind and a body, and thus are beings of united sungsang and hyungsang. There are four kinds of sungsang and hyungsang in human nature. First, each human being is a substantial image integrating all things and containing all the sungsang and hyungsang elements of animals, plants and minerals. Second, each person is a dual being of spirit person and physical person. Third, each person is a united being of mind and body. And fourth, each human being is a being with a dual mind consisting of a spirit mind and a physical mind.

Among these four kinds, the understanding of the human being as the united being of spirit mind and physical mind will receive particular attention in the Theory of the Original Human Nature. In philosophy, this issue corresponds to the study of how human essence is determined (the issue of essentialism). Both the spirit mind and the physical mind belong to the mind (sungsang). They nevertheless appear in a sungsang – hyungsang relationship to the extent that one is the mind of the spirit person (sungsang) and the other the mind of the physical person (hyungsang).

The function of the spirit mind is to pursue a life of truth, goodness, beauty, and love, in other words, a life of value. A life of value means living “for the sake of others;” it means a life of love for the sake of the family, society, nation, and humankind. Ultimately, it means living for the sake of God. In contrast, the function of the physical mind is to secure food, shelter and clothing. In other words, it pertains to the material life centering on the physical person.

In the original order, the spirit mind and the physical mind stand in a relationship of subject and object. By uniting through give-and-take action, they together form our original mind. Hence, the original mind first seeks the life of value desired by the spirit mind; next it seeks the material life desired by the physical mind. In this way, if the physical mind follows the spirit mind and the spirit mind fulfills its given functions, they will resonate with each other. This is the state of having perfected one’s character, which corresponds to what human beings originally should be. As a result of the fall, however, the original relationship between the spirit mind and the physical mind was reversed. In order to restore the original human condition, this reversed relationship itself has to be restored. This is why religion and a life of discipline became necessary.

1.        A Being of Harmonious Yang and Yin

Yang and yin are the attributes of sungsang and hyungsang. In the Theory of the Original Human Nature, they refer to husband and wife, the substantial yang being and the substantial yin being. Animals, plants, and minerals all exist and multiply through the combination of yang and yin. Since this is the case for all things of creation, the union of yang and yin in human beings, i.e., the union of husband and wife, can easily be seen as consisting of solely the union of their physical bodies. In doing this, though, one only considers the biological aspect. The union of a couple is not simply a biological union; it presupposes a union of character and love. Beyond individual perfection, the true perfection of human nature can only be achieved by a family that is realized through a personal relationship between husband and wife. Furthermore, in Unification Thought, the union of husband and wife has cosmic meaning.

First, husband and wife each represent one of God’s dual characteristics of yang and yin. Accordingly, their conjugal union signifies the manifestation of God. Second, the original union of a couple represents the final stage of God’s creation, demonstrating the completion of the creation of the universe. God’s ultimate purpose in creating the universe is the appearance of human beings who have proper dominion over all things. Third, husband and wife each originally represent half of humankind. In a couple, the husband represents masculine humanity and the wife represents feminine humanity. Thus, their union represents the unity of all of humankind. Fourth, originally, husband and wife each represent half of the world family. Within the family, the husband represents all men and the wife represents all women. Thus, their union represents the perfection of the family.

When seen from this perspective, the loving union of husband and wife signifies God’s manifestation in that family and the completion of the creation of the universe. It also demonstrates the unity of humankind and perfection of the family. Hence, the union of husband and wife is indeed a precious and sacred union with divine value (Fig. 11).

Fig. 11: The Original Meaning of the Family

When husband and wife each live according to their original mind, they come to resemble the perfection of the inner four-position foundation; their harmonious relationship represents the perfection of the outer four-position foundation. In this way, the couple comes to fully resemble the image of perfection. After reaching the maturity of their personality, when they establish a give-and-take relationship of love with each other according to the purpose of creation, God’s love comes to reside between them. The family is the place where the horizontal love of husband and wife and the vertical love of God meet. Human beings are thus the embodiment or microcosm of the universe in terms of its constituent elements, while the family is the embodiment of the universe in terms of organizational order. Thus, the family created by the harmonious love between husband and wife becomes the key to solving the problems of society and the world. In short, the original perspective on human nature can be summarized by speaking of homo amans, i.e., men and women of love.

1. A Being with Individuality

When considering an individual embodiment of truth specifically from the perspective of its individual nature, one speaks of a being with individuality. The Individual Image upon which the individual character of human beings is based differs from that of plants or animals. In the case of plants and animals, the Individual Image is determined by each species, but in the case of human beings each person has its own Individual Image. God endowed each human being with a particularized Individual Image so that he might obtain, from each one of them, a unique, stimulating joy. Thus, human beings are beings of supreme value who can give supreme joy to God through their unique individuality. This Individual Image is also part of the original human nature.

The Individual Image manifests the specific human nature in three different ways. First, there is the particularity of our bodily and facial features. Second, there is each person’s peculiar type of behavior. Third, there is one’s particular creative expression. This does not only refer to artistic creativity, but also to every type of activity through which we express our creative ability. God feels pleased when looking upon each individual human being because each person gives unique beauty to him through features, behavior, and creative activity. This is the beauty of individuality, which includes the specific beauty of features, behavior, and creative expression.

Due to the human fall, however, human individuality has so far been largely ignored and, in many instances, human rights have been violated. Based on its materialistic worldview, communism shows particular contempt for human individuality, which it considers to be derived from the environment. Humanism, on the other hand, emphasizes the value of human individuality, but finds itself unable to give an appropriate philosophical foundation to this viewpoint. As for Unification Thought, it does not consider human individuality to be derived from the environment or to be due to random causes. On the contrary, in Unification Thought, human individuality is derived from God’s Individual Image and thus has a most precious value, an understanding that offers a firm theological and philosophical foundation.

II.  A Being with Divine Character

Human beings originally resemble God’s Divine Character. Thus, they are beings with Heart, Logos, and Creativity.

1. A Being With Heart

As we have seen in the Theory of the Original Image, Heart is the emotional impulse to seek joy through love. In other words, it is the irrepressible emotional impulse to love. Heart is the very source of love and it is the core of God’s character. When human beings inherit God’s Heart they come to resemble his perfect nature. Therefore, a human being who has become one with God’s Heart and has thus achieved perfection of character can be called a being with Heart.

Heart forms the core element of sungsang and is the source of the functions of intellect, emotion, and will. Hence, it is the starting point for the formation of character and the basis of truth, beauty, and goodness. This makes it the starting point for the creation of culture. All aspects of culture – science, philosophy, art, morality, ethics, politics, economics, law, literature, sports, etc. – are the results of the action of intellect, emotion, and will (Fig. 12). Thus, in the original world, a person with Heart will be the protagonist in all areas of cultural life.

Fig. 12: The Relationship between Mind (Intellect, Emotion, and Will), Value, and Culture, Centering on Heart

1. A Being With Logos

As we have also shown in the Theory of the Original Image, Logos is the product (multiplied body) of developmental give-and-take action within the sungsang, centering on the purpose of creation. Accordingly, it is God’s plan, and it is reason-law. Also, since the purpose of creation is based on Heart, so is Logos.

Since the universe was created through the Word or Logos, it is also sustained by reason-law. Consequently, human beings, as part of the universe, were also created through the Logos and were meant to live by the Logos, so we can say that they are beings with Logos.

To be a being with Logos means to be a being with reason-law. The characteristic feature of reason is freedom and the characteristic feature of law is necessity, therefore a “being with Logos” refers to a being in which freedom and necessity are united. This means that human beings are norm-based beings, living according to laws or norms, as well as rational beings, behaving according to free will. Saying that human beings are norm-based means that they exist according to the law at work in the universe, i.e., the law of give-and-take action. However, since Heart is the motivation upon which Logos is formed within the Original Image, God’s Heart and his love are always at work behind universal law. Accordingly, love is the motive of a human’s norm-based life, and the realization of that love is its purpose.

1. A Being With Creativity

God’s creativity is based on Heart. Accordingly, when God endowed humankind with his creative power, it was in order to have people dominate all things with love, based on Heart. Dominion refers to natural beings and entities, property, and generally all material objects, but it also includes everything that involves human relationships and human activities. When dominion is performed with God’s love, it can be called original dominion. Thus, originally, resembling God’s creativity and his ability to have dominion, humans were to be beings with creativity. But, due to the fall, humankind was unable to truly inherit God’s creative nature and ended up engaging only in self-centered creative activities. Having lost the motive of Heart, human beings came to apply their creativity based on reason alone and in a self-centered way. This has led to environmental pollution, the arms race, and other similar problems.

In today’s world, scientists consider it to be their task to limit their investigation to so-called objective facts, by excluding questions of value. This mistaken point of view has led to the chaotic situation the world experiences today. It is only when science manages to develop human creativity centering on Heart that it will be able to become a tool of civilization that can truly benefit humankind. It is with this in mind that Rev. Sun Myung Moon has sponsored the International Conferences on the Unity of the Sciences, hoping to enable scientists to recover their true creative ability by developing their scientific research centering on a view of value.

III. A Being With Position

Resembling God’s own correlative nature, human existence involves standing both in the position of subject and object. Human beings initially stand in the position of object to their parents, as they are born and grow to maturity. Then, they stand in the position of subject to their own children. The former is called the object position; the latter is called the subject position. Together, they form the position of a connected body.

1. Object Position and Object Consciousness

The object position is that of an object being dominated by a subject. It always involves the desire to return beauty and joy to the subject. Since human beings were created by God as his objects of joy, the first meaning of our lives is to make God happy. And, since human beings were first created in order to stand in the position of object, they also stand in that position in relationship to those standing in the position of God. Examples of this object position towards a subject include the case of human beings as children or objects of joy for God, children as objects of love for their parents, citizens standing under the authority of the nation, disciples following the guidance of their teacher, employees receiving instructions from their superiors, and individuals sacrificing for the community.

The necessary internal attitude for an object to receive such dominion is called “object consciousness.” Object consciousness towards God is a heart of attendance and loyalty. Towards one’s country, that consciousness becomes a spirit of patriotism. Towards one’s parents, it becomes filial piety. Towards one’s teacher, it is respect. Towards one’s superior, it is obedience. Towards humankind as a whole, it is the heart of offering oneself for the sake of the other. Generally speaking, in all these cases, the object’s attitude towards the subject is one of deference and humility, with the heart of living for the sake of the subject.

1. Subject Position and Subject Consciousness

The subject position is that of exerting dominion over an object. As human beings, created by God in the position of objects, come to grow and reach perfection, they also come to stand in the position of subject towards all things, i.e., they stand in the position of exerting dominion over them. By adopting the position of object in front of God, human beings come to stand in the position of subject towards creation. Examples of the position of a subject towards his object in human relations include parents loving their children in the family, teachers instructing their students in a school setting, superiors dealing with their subordinates in a company, governments giving directions to the citizens, and society as a whole standing in a position of being served by individuals.

For a subject to exert dominion over an object, a certain internal attitude is required. This attitude is called “subject consciousness.” First of all, the subject has to show constant concern for the object so that the object never comes to feel a sense of neglect. Second, the subject has to give limitless love to the object and thus practice original true love; only that love has the elements of eternal joy, happiness and ideal. Through it alone can people be revived. Third, the subject must elicit a recognition of authority from the object and display a sense of authority for the sake of the common good. However, this authority must be exerted in such a way as not to deprive the object of spontaneity and creativity.

1. Connected-Body Consciousness and Democracy

Combining within themselves the positions of object and subject, human beings are beings of dual position. This is what is meant by “connected-body position.” Accordingly, the attitude necessary when standing in such a position is that of combining object consciousness and subject consciousness to reach “connected-body consciousness.”

In democracy, the concept of equality of rights as an equality among objects before God has degenerated into the notion of equality of subjects before the law. As a result, the inherent contradiction of democracy has surfaced as a conflict among different subjects, causing all kinds of social confusion. In democratic societies, each individual exclusively insists on his rights as a subject. Given the loss of a religious feeling of love towards God or any disposition that could play a regulative role, it has by necessity become exceedingly difficult to control the outbreak of conflicts in society. To solve these contradictions within democratic society, humankind needs to revive the original, inborn object consciousness. The leaders of the democratic world must invite God, the true subject of humankind, to return. Humanity needs to go back to the original spirit with which democracy started, namely the idea that all people are equal before God. Unification Thought refers to God-centered democracy as a world of brothers and sisters based on the “heavenly parentism” of God.

 

Chapter IV
AXIOLOGY

            The present age is an age of great confusion and loss due to a collapse of traditional views of value. What, then, are the causes that brought about this collapse?

            First of all, God has been excluded from all areas of human life (e.g., politics, the economy, social life, education and the arts), and religion is often dismissed. Second, this collapse was caused by the infiltration of materialism, atheism, and especially atheistic communism. Third, there is the conflict among religions and worldviews. Fourth, traditional moral principles promoted by the great religions of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Confucianism fail to persuade modern people who tend to think scientifically. Thus, a new perspective on values is absolutely necessary. The future society will be established by people whose faculties of intellect, emotion and will are harmoniously developed centering on God’s Heart. Accordingly, it will be a society of trueness, beauty, and ethics. Axiology is the theory that generally deals with the values of trueness, beauty and goodness and serves as a basis for the three particular theories of education, art, and ethics. In conclusion, to make possible a future society based on a culture of Heart (realizing the values of trueness, beauty, and goodness centering on Heart), a unified culture with a new view of values is a real necessity.

1. What Is Value?

            In Unification Thought, value is defined as the quality of an object that satisfies the desire of a subject. In other words, whenever an object has a quality that satisfies the wishes of a subject and is recognized as such by the subject, this quality is called a value. Actual value is the value of an object that is recognized by a subject; otherwise, it cannot be actual. Therefore, in dealing with the topic of value, the desire of the subject cannot be ignored or the focus be put exclusively on the objective aspect.

            Among the values pursued by humankind, sungsang-type values and hyungsang-type values can be distinguished. Sungsang-type values refer to spiritual values corresponding to trueness, beauty, and goodness, while hyungsang-type values refer to material values such as food, clothing, and shelter that are needed for physical life.

1. The Principle Base of the Theory of Value

For what purpose do human desires exist? They exist for the fulfillment of the purpose of creation. If human beings were deprived of any desire to fulfill the purpose of creation, they could never achieve that purpose. Human desires can be divided into the sungsang-type and the hyungsang-type. The sungsang-type desires are desires of the spirit mind pertaining to trueness, beauty, goodness, and love that are aimed at the realization of sungsang-type values. The hyungsang-type desires are physical desires pertaining to needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and sex, and they are aimed at the realization of hyungsang-type values. Since the physical body serves as a basis upon which the spirit self can develop and grow, hyungsang-type values are a necessary means for the realization of sungsang-type values.

As we have seen, each human being is a connected body that encompasses dual purposes: for the whole and for the individual. This means that all humans have dual purposes (for the whole and for the individual) in the sphere of sungsang (the spirit mind), and dual purposes (for the whole and for the individual) in the sphere of hyungsang (the physical mind). Next, since the human wish is the desire of our heart to achieve a given purpose, humans have a desire to achieve the purposes for the whole and for the individual. The former is called the desire to realize value; the latter is called the desire to seek value. Thus, for both sungsang-type desires and hyungsang-type desires there is the desire to realize value and the desire to seek value.

III. The Essence of Value

1. Potential Value and the Essential Element of Value

As previously stated, value is the quality of an object that can satisfy the desire of a subject; it is the potential value that the object possesses as its quality. Potential value is also the essential element of value, i.e., the content of the object, its attributes and its qualifications. Thus, values such as trueness, beauty, and goodness are not themselves given to the object. Rather, the constituent element that can become value or essential element resides as potential in the object. This is what is meant by the potential value of that object.

Concretely speaking, what are the contents, attributes, and qualifications that form the essence of value and the essential element of the object? They are the purpose of creation of the object and the harmony between paired elements existing in the object. First, every created entity has a purpose for which it was created that represents the essential elements of value. Second, all things resemble God’s Original Image and thus necessarily contain sungsang and hyungsang, yang and yin, as well as principal elements and subordinate elements, which create harmony through their mutual give-and-take action. The state of harmony thus created represents the essential element of value.

1. Actual Value

In terms of value, there is both the essential, potential element carried by the object and the actual aspect that is determined by the give-and-take action between the subject and the object. The former is called potential value; the latter actual value. The value needs to be evaluated in terms of actual value, which is done through give-and-take action between the subject and the object. The value that is determined is the actual value.

1. The Determination of the Actual Value and the Standard of Value
2. The Determination of Value and Subjective Action

Actual value is determined through the mutual relationship between the condition required of the subject, or subject requisites and the object requisites; i.e., it is determined through give-and-take action. In the case of the object, the requisites are its purpose of creation and harmony among its paired elements (sungsang and hyungsang, yang and yin, principal element and subordinate element), which form the essential element. Thus, in the determination of value, the essential elements belonging to the object are the object requisites. But, in that process, subject requisites are equally needed. When facing the object, the subject needs to have the desire to seek value and have concern and interest. The subject requisites also include subjective factors, i.e., the condition of the subject’s mind. These factors determine the amount of quality and quantity of value. The subject’s philosophy, viewpoints, taste, personality, education, view of life, view of history, worldview, etc. are conditions that influence the determination of value. In summary, the requisites needed on the part of the subject in the determination of value are the subject’s interest and desire to seek value, and the attitude of taking the position of subject. It is only when these subject and object requisites perfectly fit that actual value is determined.

The reason the subjective element is so important in the determination of value is because it is through the subject’s appraisal that value is decided. The subject’s way of thinking, worldview, and other subjective elements are reflected in the object, because they are crystallized as a specific actual value that can only be perceived by that subject. Thus, the appraisal of value by the subject, which is influenced by the subjective element, is called subjective action. In other words, the fact that the viewpoint of the subject is reflected in the object in the course of determining value is called subjective action. This is summarized in Fig. 13.

Fig. 13: The Determination of Value

1. The Correlative Standard and the Absolute Standard of Value

The determination and appraisal of value established through subjective action will vary from person to person. Yet, when there are many commonalities in the subject requisites, there will be many points of agreement in the appraisal of value. Among people sharing the same religion or philosophy, the view of value will be nearly the same. However, to the extent that there are differences in people’s religious and philosophical views, their worldviews, their views of life and history, etc., the appraisal of value will only coincide within each particular sphere. These phenomena are due to the common factors shared by the subjects who determine value. Since the common standard for the appraisal of value that is gained in this way remains limited to a particular sphere, that common standard or criterion will be called a correlative standard.

However, if true peace is to be established among humankind, a standard for the appraisal of value that transcends religions, nationalities, cultures, and philosophies (i.e., an absolute standard of judgment that is common to all human beings) is absolutely required. To establish such a standard, we must be able to clearly expose the nature of the Being that is the root cause of all religions, nations, cultures, and philosophies; next, we must clarify the exact nature of the common elements derived from such a Being. A standard common to all people throughout the world can only be found through God’s absolute love and truth. Only then can we speak of an absolute standard in the appraisal of value. A true unification of the views of value will thus be possible when all humankind comes to experience God’s absolute love and understand the absolute truth, the eternal and unchanging Logos (reason-law) that governs the universe.

But even when there is an absolute standard for the determination of value, a certain subjective input depending on each person’s individual character is inevitable. This is due to the obvious fact that, based on common factors and elements, individual differences are present everywhere. This in turn is due to the fact that absolute values are universal values that encompass and include individual differences. As long as this is the case, there will not be confusion in the view of values due to personal differences. The reason for this is that in this case the difference is not of a qualitative nature, but merely quantitative. In conclusion, the unification of views is possible through absolute values.

 

Chapter V

THEORY OF EDUCATION

            Issues that are related to education, such as the moral degradation of today’s youth, sexual immorality, and violence in the classrooms, have already been introduced in earlier chapters. Given the lack of vision, present-day education has lost its sense of direction. Schools have turned into places where knowledge is often simply sold and bought and where teachers have lost their authority. A new theory of education is needed to put an end to the present chaos and open the way for a new world order. This is the reason for introducing the Unification Theory of Education. Theories of education have two aspects: one philosophical, which deals with the fundamental principles of education, and one scientific, which deals with the objective facts related to education. Unification Thought’s Theory of Education deals primarily with the philosophy of education and thus with the sungsang aspect of the issue.

1. The Principle Foundation for a Theory of Education
2. The Three Great Blessings and the Three Great Ideals of Education

Education can be described as the process of raising children to resemble God. To resemble God is to grow and come to resemble the Divine Image and Character perfectly. The three great blessings (“be fruitful, multiply, and have dominion…") mean that humankind is to resemble God’s nature of perfection, multiplication, and dominion.

To resemble God’s perfection through the first blessing is to achieve perfection of one’s individuality, to achieve unity of one’s spirit mind and physical mind centering on Heart, and to reach a state where one’s mind and body are united. To resemble the aspect of God’s nature that is related to multiplication by completing the second blessing is to achieve perfection of the family and to come to resemble the harmonious oneness of God’s yang and yin nature. For human beings, the harmonious unity of yang and yin means the unity of husband and wife. For this, the two must complete the course of perfecting their conjugal love. To resemble the aspect of God’s nature that relates to dominion by completing the third blessing is to perfect one’s creativity. It also means to resemble God’s creativity by creating a new being centering on Heart.

In the Unification Theory of Education, the three ideals of education are based on the three great blessings. Hence, the first ideal of individual perfection consists of educating people about how to perfect their personality. The second ideal of family perfection consists of educating people about how to achieve perfection of their family. The third ideal of perfection of dominion consists of educating people about how to exercise their dominion over all things.

1. The Process of Growth of Human Beings

For human beings to resemble God, they need to go through a specific period of growth. Accordingly, human beings only come to resemble God after growing through the three stages of formation, growth and perfection. The process of growth implies that one comes to resemble God’s character, the harmony between his yang and yin nature, as well as his creativity. Whereas our physical body grows through the autonomy and dominion of the principle alone (as with the growth of all things), the spirit mind can only grow through the additional completion of a portion of responsibility. Saying that human beings only grow through the fulfillment of their portion of responsibility means that they have to develop their personality by their own effort and responsibility. Thus they can grow by experiencing God’s love while observing the norm (the Principle) by their own free will.

1. The Three Forms of Education

The three forms of education must be derived from the three ideals. Education of Heart is needed for the perfection of the individual, Education of Norm is needed for the perfection of the family, and Education of Dominion, including technical education, intellectual education, and physical education, is needed for the perfection of dominion.

1. Education of Heart

Education of Heart seeks to perfect one’s individual character and thus resemble God’s perfection. Resembling God’s perfection refers to the state where one fully experiences God’s Heart and creates unity between one’s spirit mind and one’s physical mind through give-and-take action centered on Heart. Therefore, the form of education that aims at understanding and experiencing God’s Heart can be called Education of Heart and is directed towards the perfection of individuality.

            God’s Heart is expressed in three different forms. First, there is the Heart of Hope. The creation of Adam and Eve as his first children was God’s ultimate hope in creation. During the course of creation, God’s Heart was filled with hope and joy in anticipation for their coming. Second, there is the Heart of Sorrow, which corresponds to God’s feeling when Adam and Eve, his first children, fell during their growing period and came to be dominated by Satan. This can be compared to what human parents go through when they lose their children, but the degree of intensity of God’s pain, based upon the scope of his hope and expectation at the time of creation, can in no way be compared to the human situation. Third, there is the Heart of Suffering. After the human fall, God had to proceed with the providence for restoration. In that process, he had to watch how those figures carrying the central responsibility in his dispensation were persecuted and ridiculed, even killed by Satan’s representatives; this caused him unspeakable heartache and suffering.

            For this reason, Education of Heart means teaching humans to understand and experience personally these aspects of God’s Heart. Most importantly, God’s Heart of suffering and anguish in the course of restoration needs to be conveyed. In so doing, instructors should express God’s Heart by their example and through their actions as much as through their words. By imitating their teachers, children will learn to practice God’s love in their daily lives and they will be able to inherit his Heart.

1. Education of Norm

            Education of Norm is the education that shows how to achieve perfection in one’s family life and it is the form of education that teaches men and women to resemble the harmonious unity of God’s yang and yin nature when they form a couple. Thus, it is the education that shows how to gain the qualification to become a spouse. Through the Education of Norm, the mystery and sanctity of sex should be taught with special care. Children should be awakened to the fact that sex is to be experienced only through married life; that until that time it should not be misused under any circumstance; and that after marriage deviation cannot be tolerated.

Education of Norm is an education that guides people to become beings of reason-law by following the Way of Heaven. The Education of Norm should go hand in hand with the Education of Heart. Because Education of Norm teaches humans how to control their actions, it can easily degenerate into an empty and oppressive set of rules if it lacks the element of love.

1. Education of Dominion (Intellectual Education, Technical Education, Physical Education)
2. Education for the Perfection of Dominion

            Education of Dominion deals with the perfection of dominion and consists of three aspects. First, intellectual education is concerned with knowledge about the objects over which one has dominion, be they human or material. This is the role of intellectual education. When the object of knowledge is material, education focuses on the natural sciences and when the object is human it focuses on politics, economics, the social sciences, the humanities, and the like. Second, it is necessary to acquire technical know-how in order to develop one’s creativity. This is the role of technical education. Finally, it is necessary to build up one’s physical strength to be able to exert dominion. This is the role of physical education. The three taken together – intellectual, technical, and physical education – amount to Education of Dominion.

Let us consider the development of our creativity and the two-stage structure of creation in relationship to education. God’s creativity is his ability to realize the two-stage structure of creation, i.e., it is his ability to establish the inner and outer four-position foundations. The acquisition of broad knowledge is needed in order to enhance one’s ability to realize an inner four-position foundation. This means increasing the content (ideas, concepts) of the inner hyungsang. On the other hand, the mastery of technical skills is required in order to improve one’s ability to realize an outer four-position foundation. The former refers to intellectual education and the latter to technical education.

2. Education of Dominion Based on Universal Education

            Education of Heart and Education of Norm should be acquired equally by all people and constitute universal education. In contrast, Education of Dominion corresponds to the realm of individual differences in the nature and way of learning and is fundamentally an individual-specific education. Universal education and individual education stand in a relationship of sungsang and hyungsang. Hence, individual education (Education of Dominion) must be realized on the basis of universal education (Education of Heart and Education of Norm); the two go hand in hand. Only in this way is a truly balanced education possible.

III.  The Image of the Ideal Educated Person

In the Unification Theory of Education, the ideal educated person is introduced in terms of being a person of character, a good citizen, and a “genius.” This is the ideal view of the human being corresponding to the three types of education – that of Heart, Norm, and Dominion. Therefore, when seen in terms of the image of the ideal person, Education of Heart may be described as education to develop people of character, Education of Norm may be called education to foster and develop good citizens, and Education of Dominion may be called education to develop people of genius.

1. The Education of a Person of Character

The image of the ideal person in the Education of Heart is that of a “person of character.” To become such a genuine person, one has to learn how to experience God’s Heart and to practice his original true love in daily life. A person of ideal character has perfected the entire personality, having developed the faculties of intellect, emotion, and will in a balanced way on the basis of Heart. In summary, a person of character practices God’s original true love towards all people and all things.

1. The Education of a Good Citizen

The image of the ideal person sought in the Education of Norm is that of a “good citizen.” The Education of Norm may be given in schools, but its basis must be taught in the family. Therefore, a person who has received a good standard of Education of Norm in the family can become a good member of the family, society, nation, and world.

1. The Education for the Realization of “Genius”

The image of the ideal person in the Education of Dominion is that of a “genius.” Originally, all human beings were endowed with God’s creativity. The one who fully manifests this creativity based on the Education of Dominion may be called a “genius." Since human beings have been given individuality, those who fully develop their own creativity will become geniuses in such various fields as music, mathematics, politics, business, administration, and so on. In the environment produced by the human fall, however, people have become unable to fully display their God-given creativity and have tended to settle for mediocrity. That is the reality of the Education of Dominion in fallen society. A summary of the Unification view of education is offered in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary of the Unification Theory of Education

 

Chapter VI

ETHICS

            One of the most deplorable phenomena in the contemporary world is the rapid collapse of moral sense and ethical consciousness, giving rise to all sorts of social evils, the destruction of social order, and total chaos. Quite simply, a new perspective on ethics is needed to overcome the overall confusion of our society and reestablish a proper social structure. 

            To fulfill this role, a new theory of ethics is required. The society of the future will be a society of truth, art, and ethics, where the values of trueness, goodness and beauty will be realized, centered on God’s love. An ethical society implies that all humankind, serving God as their Parent, will love each other as brothers and sisters and realize a society of original true love with true norms. Thus, the purpose of this chapter on Ethics is to overcome the confusion that dominates ethics today and to present a systematic theory that can provide the ethical views needed for the society to come.

1. The Principle Foundation for Ethics

From the perspective of the Divine Principle, Ethics has a three-fold foundation: God’s true love, the family four-position foundation, and the three-object purpose. God’s love is the locus of the three values of truth, goodness, and beauty. The disciplines corresponding to these three values are the Theories of Education, Ethics, and Art. Hence, the foundation for Ethics can be found in God’s true love. For that love to be fully actualized, the family four-position foundation is needed. Actually, God’s love is distributed through the family four-position foundation in the form of divisional love, i.e., it manifests itself as parents’ love, conjugal love, and children’s love. Furthermore, parents, husband and wife, and children become the three objects of God as their center. Accordingly, God-centered parental love, conjugal love, and children’s love, taken together, are the love of the three objects. The overview that follows will show how love is realized in the family and explain the meaning of ethical relationships.

1. Morality and Ethics

In Unification Thought, morality refers to the norms concerning the individual. Thus, it is the norm for human behavior on the individual level; the norm of behavior for the individual’s internal life according to the principle of reciprocity (give-and take action) centered on Heart; and the norm that serves to complete the individual four-position foundation. Therefore, morality is the norm that corresponds to the individual embodiment of truth, or the first blessing and the perfection of the individual.

Ethics, on the other hand, refers to the norms and rules that each member of the family has to follow. It is thus the human norm of behavior on the family level; the norm of behavior for the family according to the principle of reciprocity centered on love; and the norm that applies when the family four-position foundation is established. Therefore, ethics is the norm that corresponds to the connected body, or the second blessing and the perfection of the family. Therefore, also, morality is the subjective norm, and ethics is the objective norm.

Ethics represents the patterns in the practice of love within the family four-position foundation, where each of the four positions directs its love towards the other three. A triangular relationship that absolutely requires order is thus established. Where there is no order, there is no place for ethics. In today’s family, however, order between parents and children, husband and wife, and brothers and sisters is either neglected or ignored. As a result, the family has become disordered, which is the main cause of the collapse of social order. Order in love relationships is closely related to order in sexual relationships. Therefore, ethics is simultaneously the norm for order in love and for order in sex. A theory of ethics that is capable of bringing order in the spheres of love and sex is needed to bring the family back to its original state. The Unification Thought view of morality and ethics is summarized in Table 2.

Table 2: Morality and Ethics

III. Morality, Ethics, and the Way of Heaven

1. Morality and the Way of Heaven

As explained above, ethics is the set of norms that apply to the members of the family as a connected body, while morality refers to the norms that apply to each person within the family as an individual embodiment of truth. Morality corresponds to universal law. In the universe, each individual entity maintains its own specific position, establishing a four-position foundation through inner give-and-take action, which results in a movement of rotation. Human beings, too, are to establish a perfect inner give-and-take action between the spirit mind and the physical mind of the individual based on specific positions, thus leading personal or individual behavior to conform to universal law. Morality includes virtues such as purity, honesty, righteousness, temperance, courage, wisdom, self-control, endurance, independence, self-reliance, fairness, diligence, and innocence.

1. Ethics and the Way of Heaven

Human beings are the substantial image and microcosm of the universe, encapsulating its constituent elements. A family consisting of such individuals is like a miniature form of the orderly structure of the universe. Family norms and ethics are not a matter of free choice; individuals are to follow a path in accordance with universal law.

Just like the universe as a whole, the family has a vertical and a horizontal structure. The relationship that links grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren to each other in the family is a vertical order. The relationship between husband and wife or between brothers and sisters is a horizontal order. In this way, family ethics is a miniature form of universal law (reason-law), the “Way of Heaven.” The virtues corresponding to such order are the benevolence of grandparents and parents towards their children, the filial piety of children towards their parents (vertical virtues), conjugal love among spouses, and brotherly or sisterly love among siblings (horizontal virtues).

When vertical virtues are extended from the family to the school, the social environment, and the nation, they are expressed through the teachers’ sense of duty and the students’ respect towards them, the protection offered by the leaders of society to its members and the respect they receive in return, and just rule by the leaders of a nation and the reciprocated loyalty of the citizens. Horizontal virtues such as reconciliation, cooperation, and service are likewise extended to social life as a whole.

1. Order and Equality

Traditionally, people have tended to insist on equality of rights. The standard of judgment in this matter has been the understanding that a given person’s insistence on his or her rights can represent an infringement upon another person’s prerogatives, just as one individual’s excessive use of his or her liberty results in a curtailment of other people’s freedom. However, this traditional notion of equality is difficult to implement.

From the viewpoint of the Principle, true equality is equality of love and character. True equality is enjoyed by humankind under the love of a common parent, God. God’s love is manifested divisionally through order in the family. Thus, equality of love is equality through order. Equality of love through order refers to equality in the degree of completeness of love. In other words, equality is realized when there is completeness of love in everyone in a way which is suited to each person’s position and individual character. Hence, from the Principle viewpoint, equality is equality of personal satisfaction, equality in the personal sense of joy, and equality in the sense of being appreciated as a person.

Let us, for example, consider the issue of equality of rights in terms of occupational positions. Since rights are inevitably given to each individual according to his or her occupational position, equality of rights is essentially impossible. Regardless of the different rights attached to any particular position, however, there is a type of equality that transcends any such distinction: equality in the sense of love, personality, and satisfaction. The same is true in the relationship between man and woman. Their equality is not one of rights, but one of personality and joy. When husband and wife exchange God’s true love, feelings of inequality or discrimination vanish and are replaced by a sense of standing on the same ground, as both share an abundance of joy.

 

Chapter VII

THEORY OF ART

            Contemporary art has shown a tendency to become increasingly vulgar, and decadent art results in a decadent culture. Should the present situation continue as it is, our world culture will face a serious crisis. A new theory of art is necessary to establish a truly artistic society and thus create a new culture.

       I.      The Principle Foundation for The Theory of Art

The Principle foundation for a theory of art includes the following three notions: the purpose of creation and creativity; joy and the creation in resemblance; and give-and-take action.

First, God’s purpose in creating the universe was to create joy through love. Therefore, he created the universe as his object of joy. Accordingly, God can be regarded as a great artist and the universe as his work of art. Human artistic creativity is derived from God’s creation of the universe. The activity of creation starts with the purpose for the whole (i.e., with the intent of pleasing others) and the activity of appreciation starts with the purpose for the individual (i.e., with the desire to obtain joy for oneself). The Theory of the Original Image shows how God’s creativity precisely consists of his ability to realize the two-stage structure of creation. This process is manifested as the two-stage structure of creation in human artistic creativity. First, there is the stage of making a plan; next, there is the step of making an artwork by substantiating the plan through the use of various materials.

Second, God created human beings and all things as objects of joy. Applied to Unification Thought’s Theory of Art, this means that the artist creates his work of art in order to feel joy by having it resemble his or her sungsang and hyungsang. Also, it means that the appreciator feels joy by sensing his or her own sungsang and hyungsang through the work of art.

Third, by applying the give-and-take action that occurs within God’s Original Image to the Theory of Art, creation takes place through the give-and-take action between a subject (the artist) and an object (the material). Appreciation, as well, occurs when there is give-and-take action between a subject (the appreciator) and an object (the artwork).

1. Art and Beauty
2. Art and Joy

Art is the human activity that corresponds to the creation of beauty and to its appreciation. As for God’s purpose of creation, the purpose of art is to feel joy through the creation and appreciation of the work of art (the artist’s object). Thus, art can be defined as the creation of beauty and the creation of joy through appreciation.

But what are the circumstances that give rise to joy? Joy arises when the sungsang and the hyungsang of a subject and an object come to resemble each other. Resemblance on the sungsang level means that the heart and thoughts of the artist that are embedded in the artwork (object), and the heart and thoughts of the appreciator (subject), which both represent the sungsang aspect, resemble each other. Additionally, the hyungsang elements of shape, color, sound, smell, and other attributes of the object (a thing or a work of art) resemble the corresponding hyungsang elements that exist within the body of the subject (the appreciator) on a reduced scale; this is resemblance on the hyungsang level. When the resemblance of these corresponding elements is perceived in one’s mind, joy arises through emotional stimulation.

1. Beauty and the Determination of Beauty

Beauty can be defined as an emotional force and stimulation that the subject receives from the object. Like trueness and goodness, beauty is a value. In other words, beauty is the value of the object perceived through emotional stimulation.

However, beauty is not something that “exists” objectively; it is something that “is felt.” Some element existing in the object gives the subject an emotional stimulation that is felt as beauty by that subject. The element of beauty that stimulates the subject emotionally is the combination of the purpose for which the object was created and the harmony (in space and in time) of the physical elements within that object. Thus, when physical elements such as lines, shapes, colors, and space in painting, and pitch, duration, etc. of a sound in music are well harmonized centering on the purpose of creation, they give an emotional stimulation to the subject. When this stimulation is perceived as such by the subject, actual beauty is perceived.

In conclusion, beauty appears when there is a give-and-take action between a subject’s desire to pursue value and the elements of beauty contained within an object. Beauty is thus determined by the subject’s own emotional evaluation of the stimulation coming from the object.

III. Creation and Appreciation

A.     Creation and Appreciation Considered from the Perspective of the Dual Purpose

Human beings receive the desire to fulfill their purpose. The desire that pertains to the purpose for the whole is called the desire to realize value, and the desire to fulfill the individual purpose is called the desire to seek value. In art, creation is performed on the basis of the desire to realize value, while appreciation originates in the desire to seek value. Artistic creation is an act whereby an artist, in the position of object, manifests the value of beauty for the sake of the whole (i.e., God and humankind, in the position of subject). Appreciation, on the other hand, is the act whereby an appreciator, in the position of subject, finds the value of beauty in a work of art (the object). The above description is summarized in Fig. 14.

Fig. 14: The dual Purpose of Artistic Activity: Creation and Appreciation

1. Requisites for Creation

            In creation, there are requisites for the subject (the artist) and requisites for the object (the work of art). Additionally, techniques, materials, and styles of creation are important requisites in the creative process.

1. Requisites for the Subject in Creation

First, the artist as the subject must provide a motif, a theme, and a conception. At the beginning, there must be a motivation for creation, or a motif. Based on that motif, a purpose for creating a specific work is established. Next, the theme, followed by the conception, is determined.

Second, the artist must develop a sense of object consciousness. He or she must take the position of object in front of God and the whole (humankind, the nation, the people) and offer joy to them by manifesting the value of beauty. It is also important for artists to approach the act of creating with an attitude of object consciousness and to strive as much as possible to expand the scope of their work for the sake of the subject (the whole). The attitude of wanting to give joy to God, the highest subject, and to manifest his glory, is the culmination of object consciousness.

 Finally, the individuality of the artist in itself is a subject requisite in creation. Each human being is an individual being who was created to resemble each of God’s Individual Images. Accordingly, in artistic creation too, the artist’s individuality is expressed through the artwork. Artistic creation is an expression of the artist’s individuality, which is an Individual Image of divine origin.

2. Requisites for the Object in Creation

The work of art must properly reflect the artist’s sungsang conditions, such as the motif or purpose, the theme, and the conception. For that purpose, the artist must use materials that are most appropriate to manifest those sungsang conditions. Moreover, the physical elements (components) used in creating should be arranged in a way that expresses complete harmony. Those are the hyungsang conditions. The harmony of the physical elements refers to the harmonious rhythm of lines, the harmony of shapes, the harmonious use of space, the harmonious contrast of light and dark, the harmony of colors and sounds, the harmonious arrangement of masses in painting, of movement in dancing, and the harmonious proportions of line segments (the golden section).

3. Techniques and Materials

The manifestation of artistic creativity consists of the making of an artwork by using a given material, thus forming an outer four-position foundation based on the inner four-position foundation of the artist’s conception. In the process of establishing an outer four-position foundation, the sungsang (conceptualization) and the hyungsang (material) establish a give-and-take action centering on the motive or purpose. At this stage, special techniques or abilities, which we might refer to as the techniques of creation, may be required. Materials, too, consist of sungsang materials, i.e., the object of expression, such as the content of or the model for a painting (its motif), and hyungsang materials, i.e., the means of expression, such as marble or wood. The former is called the subject matter (content), the latter is called the medium. The way techniques and materials (both subject and medium) relate to each other in the two stage structure of artistic creation is displayed in Fig. 15.

Fig. 15: Techniques and Materials in the Two-Stage Structure of Artistic Creation

4. Styles and Schools of Artistic Creation

Style of creation refers to the method of artistic expression, which is the particular way the two-stage structure of creation is formed. Of special importance is the manner in which the inner four-position foundation is formed, i.e., the style of conception. Even where the motif (purpose) is the same, if the inner sungsang (intellect, emotion, and will) and the inner hyungsang (the subject matter) differ from one another, the result or conception will also be different. Thus, if the conception varies according to the mode in which the three constituent elements of the inner four-position foundation are set, the resulting artwork will naturally vary in style.

Historically, there have been many well-known schools of artistic expression such as idealism, classicism, romanticism, realism, naturalism, symbolism, impressionism, expressionism, and cubism. Thus, the conception and style of artistic creation will always vary depending on the rules that are followed. Nevertheless, styles that embrace common elements do occasionally appear. This can take place in various ways. As for the vision of art exposed in the Unification Theory of Art, it can be referred to simply as Unificationism. This essentially means that idealism and realism are unified centering on God’s purpose for creation. For instance, Unificationism would depict the image of a human being filled with hope, seeking to overcome the hardships of this actual, sinful world, while longing for the original, ideal world. Unificationism also seeks to express the ideal love of God and the Heart he has felt throughout the course of history, so it is a Heart-based theory as well and thus includes elements of romanticism.

1. Requisites for Appreciation
2. Requisites for the Subject

Appreciation is also a form of artistic activity and of give-and-take action. Conditions are similarly required of both the appreciator (the subject) and the work of art (the object). In the case of the subject, the sungsang requisites will be that he or she must have the desire to enjoy beauty. The subject, or appreciator, is required to have an attitude of intuition and contemplation when facing the work of art. A certain level of culture, taste, thought, and individual character is obviously needed for the appreciator to satisfy these requisites. The harmonious unity between the subject’s spirit mind and physical mind is another important condition.

It is also necessary to have a certain understanding of the artwork’s motif, theme and conception and to have an insight into the artist’s thought, into the historical and social background in which the work was created, and the like. This way, the minds of the creator and of the appreciator are brought to resemble each other more closely, allowing the process of appreciation to become an added act of creation through the perspective of the appreciator. Also, by contemplating an artwork, one is in the position to synthesize in one’s own mind the conception of the artist (sungsang) and the harmonious interplay of the various material elements contained in the work (hyungsang), thus bringing to the fore the deep meaning of the artwork. Finally, and most importantly, the appreciator must have the senses of sight and hearing in good condition, as well as the nerves and brain in a state of good health (bodily or hyungsang-type conditions).

2. Requisites for the Object

In appreciation, the conditions required of the object (the work of art) are that the physical elements constituting its beauty must be harmonized centering on the purpose of creation. The artwork (object) is placed in front of the appreciator (subject) as a completed piece, thus the sungsang and hyungsang conditions that are contained in it cannot be changed at will by the appreciator. However, art can receive new meaning through the additional creative act that consists of the choice of the artwork and the way in which the subject looks at it. In this way, the work’s resemblance to the appreciating subject will be enhanced. It is further important to prepare the correct environment, including location background, and lighting, when displaying works of art.

Next, let us consider how judgments of beauty are determined. Beauty does not exist objectively. It is determined when the appreciator’s desire to seek beauty is fulfilled by the emotional stimulation coming from the work of art. The elements of beauty existing within the artwork only turn into actual beauty when the subject perceives them through emotional stimulation and judges them to be beautiful. In the case of such a judgment of beauty, the emotional element is more active than the cognitive element. An aesthetic judgment is caused by feeling, due to emotional stimulation, rather than cognition.

1. Unity in Art

In every artistic activity there are several pairs of correlative elements, but these should be considered from the point of view of their unity. First, there is the unity of creation and appreciation. Generally, it is considered that creation is performed by the artist and that appreciation is the activity of the general public, the two being separate. However, from the perspective of Unification Thought, the two are simply two moments of the activity of dominion. When artists produce their works of art, they simultaneously appreciate their work. And appreciators who appreciate a work of art at the same time engage in creative activity. As mentioned above, creation in appreciation refers to the additional creative input of subjective action.

Second, there is the unity of content and form. Content and form correspond to the Unification Thought notions of sungsang and hyungsang. Just as sungsang and hyungsang exist as an indivisible unity, content and form should also be united. This means that the artwork’s sungsang aspects (purpose, motif, and conception) and hyungsang aspects (material elements) should be harmonized and unified.

Third, universality and individuality should also be united. Artists manifest their individuality in the artwork, but at the same time they also manifest certain common elements based on the school to which they belong, the region from which they come, and the age in which they live. The former is individuality, the latter is universality. Since the creator unites the elements of universality and individuality within himself or herself, the work of art, too, expresses beauty based on the united aspects of individuality and universality.

Fourth, there is the unity of eternity and temporality. All created entities embody within themselves the unity of immutability and changeability by being the combination of an identity-maintaining four-position foundation and a developmental four-position foundation. In the exact same way, within a work of art, the eternal element and the temporal element exist side by side in unity. Thus, the beauty of the work of art becomes even more striking when we grasp the “moment in eternity” or “eternity in the moment” as we contemplate that work.

1. Art and Ethics

Art is a form of dominion over creation. Originally, though, human beings were created so as to perfect their character and their ability to love prior to achieving dominion over creation. Since the perfection of one’s character is a premise for achieving dominion over creation, it is only proper that ethics would be a prerequisite for artistic activity, which is a form of dominion over creation. Since both creation and appreciation represent a form of dominion over creation, it only makes sense that the artist has to be a moral and ethical person as well.

Love is the emotional force given by the subject to the object and beauty is the emotional stimulation the subject receives from the object. When love is considered from the point of view of the receiver, it is beauty; when beauty is considered from the perspective of the giver, it is love. Thus, love and beauty are in such a relationship with each other that they are two and one at the same time. By the same token, ethics, which deal with love, and art, which deals with beauty, find themselves in an inseparably close relationship with each other. Thus, true beauty can only exist on the basis of true love. However, though artists in our society have often treated the theme of love in their novels, dramas, films, and the like, they have not found it easy to become ethical people themselves. This means that the love with which they are dealing is mostly not the love of God, but a fallen form of love that can be traced back to our human ancestors’ immoral use of love.

1. Types of Beauty

As stated, love and beauty are inseparably related to each other and one cannot be considered apart from the other. The more parents love their children, the more beautiful the children appear to them; when love increases in quantity, so does beauty. Therefore, the types of beauty correspond to the types of love. God’s love is manifested divisionally in the family as parental love, conjugal love, children’s love, and brothers’ and sisters’ love. Hence, the types of beauty will correspond to these forms of love. These types can further be subdivided and described as follows:

Fatherly beauty:         solemn, magnanimous, stern, broad, profound, and awe-inspiring.

Motherly beauty:         gracious, noble, warm, delicate, peaceful, and affectionate.

Husband’s beauty:      masculine, i.e., active, trustworthy, tragic, resolute, brave, and prudent.

Wife’s beauty:             feminine, i.e., passive beauty, supportive, obedient, sorrowful, tender, cheerful, and frugal.

Son’s beauty:              filial, obedient, reliant, youthful, comical, and cute (in a masculine way).

Daughter’s beauty:     filial, obedient, reliant, youthful, comical, and cute (in a feminine way).

 

Chapter VIII

THEORY OF HISTORY

          The Unification Theory of History is specifically concerned with the philosophy of history. It is intended to provide a firm basis to a new view of history and thus to offer a credible solution to today’s complex problems and situations. In the process, it offers answers to questions such as how human history started, in what direction it is proceeding, by what kind of laws it is guided, and what its purpose might be. In each case, there is the need to verify that these observations coincide with historical developments.

I.  The Basic Position of the Unification View of History

The Unification View of History is essentially based on the history of restoration presented by the Divine Principle, which looks at history from three basic perspectives: first, that of sinful history; second, that of the history of re-creation; third, that of the history of restoration proper.

A. Sinful History

Human history has been a non-principled history that started with the fall of the first human ancestors. All the conflicts, wars, pain, misery, and suffering that have filled history have their ultimate origin in that event of the fall. Consequently, it is not possible to properly address the many problems of history without clarifying issues related to the fall.

B. The History of Re-Creation

Due to the fall of the first ancestors, the original world never came to be. God carried out his dispensation in order to recover and re-create the original world that had been lost. Since history became the history of re-creating human beings and their world, it can be called the history of re-creation. Also, since God created this world through his Word, i.e., through reason-law, the same laws of creation must be at work in re-creation as well.

C. The History of Restoration

            It is unconceivable that God’s creation would end in failure due to the human fall. One way or another, God must therefore restore the non-principled world and humankind to their original positions. Accordingly, from the very beginning of human history, God has been striving to complete his dispensation to restore the world of evil to its original position. The history of humankind has thus been the history of the providence of restoration. This history has been carried out according to certain laws, which are referred to here as the “laws of restoration.”

1. The Law-Governed Nature of History

            The saying “those who oppose Heaven will perish, while those who act in accordance with Heaven will prosper” means that a transcendent principle beyond human control is at work behind the development of history. In that sense, the specific laws at work in history cannot be opposed by humankind. These laws are the laws of creation and the laws of restoration. The cultural view of history suggested by Arnold Toynbee in the 20^th century was unable to present a definite set of laws at work in history. Hegel’s spiritual view of history, based on his dialectic, ended up having little to do with reality. As for Marx’s historical materialism, which is a combination of Hegelian dialectics and materialism, it turns out to be nothing but the assertion of false laws arbitrarily applied to history. The Unification view of history, on the other hand, looks at history from a theological basis, but in doing so it also succeeds in highlighting the genuine laws that are at work in history. This allows it to include the concerns of the social sciences in its considerations.

1. The Origin, Direction, and Goal of History

The Unification view of history considers the creation and fall of human beings to be the origin of history. It further opposes the views of evolutionism and the polygenic position and considers that human history began with one set of original ancestors, Adam and Eve (the monogenic position). This affirmation is based on the principle that creation starts from one. 

The goal of history is the restoration of the ideal world of creation. Therefore, history inevitably progresses in the direction of that goal. When considered from the viewpoint of the direction and goal of history, the Unification Theory of History appears to defend the perspective of determinism. However, in the Unification view, the process that leads to the fulfillment of the goal of history is not determined. God’s will for the providence of restoration depends for its fulfillment on the accomplishment of the human portion of responsibility (in particular that of the providential central figures). Hence, when considered from the viewpoint of the course of history, the Unification view is that of non-determinism. Though the goal of history is clearly set, the course that leads to its fulfillment remains undetermined. We can thus speak of a “theory of responsibility.”

II. The Laws of Creation and the Laws of Restoration

Human history is at the same time the history of re-creation and the history of the providence for restoration. Changes in history occur based on the laws of creation and the laws of restoration. Expressed differently, history has undergone changes in two directions, i.e., the direction of development and the direction of restoration. The significance of the Unification Theory lies in the fact that it points out the existence of these two fundamental directions and that it shows how the corresponding laws are at work in the historical process.

A. The Laws of Creation

In a broad sense, the laws of creation at work in history are laws of development. They are: (1) The law of correlativity; (2) the law of give-and-take action; (3) the law of repulsion; (4) the law of dominion by the center; (5) the law of completion through three stages; (6) the law of the period of the number six; and (7) the law of responsibility.

1. The Law of Correlativity

All created entities exist through the correlative relationship between subject and object elements. Similarly, each individual entity establishes correlative relationships of subject and object with other entities. Accordingly, for development to occur in society through history, the establishment of a correlative relationship of subject and object in areas such as politics, the economy, culture, science, etc. is indispensable. If the law of correlativity is ignored, no development whatsoever will be possible.

2. The Law of Give-and-Take Action

When the correlative elements of subject and object within a thing form a correlative relationship, the action of giving and taking (receiving) certain elements or forces occurs. Such interaction between subject and object is called give-and-take action and the law that produces it is called the law of give-and-take action. In every sphere of human activity, from the individual to the family, to various groups, companies, political life, the economy, the arts, religion, and education, development is unthinkable without the law of give-and-take action and the same is true for history. This give-and-take action does not involve any conflict or opposition. Because it is based on a correlative relationship between subject and object centered on a common purpose, it has the character of perfection and harmony.

3. The Law of Repulsion

            The fact that two subjects or two objects will repel each other is referred to as the law of repulsion. The action of repulsion in the natural world is originally latent and hardly ever surfaces except for strengthening or complementing the give-and-take action between subject and object. In human history and society, however, the action of repulsion between two subjects takes on the form of conflict between good and evil and that of war. When the side of goodness wins, history makes a turn in the direction of goodness; if the side of evil is victorious, it makes a turn in the direction of evil.

4. The Law of Dominion by the Center

            In the history of restoration, God establishes central figures and, through them, leads humankind in the direction of goodness. In this case, he first forms a social environment and then inspires the central figure to lead that environment in a direction in accordance with his providence. Thus, the central figure is given the responsibility to take control of the existing environment. This phenomenon in the history of God’s providence is called the law of dominion by the center. In the debate over the question of whether it is the environment that produces leaders or whether it is the leaders that are in control of the environment, materialism chooses the first option. In reality, however, at certain stages of historical development God chooses a central figure to change social conditions in the direction of his providence and, in this manner, assumes control of the providential environment. This is the law of dominion by the center.

5. The Law of Completion through Three Stages

            This law refers to the fact that all things go through a three-stage course in their growth and development. This law applies to the history of restoration as well. If a certain plan in the dispensation is not fulfilled in the first attempt, it will be completed through a second and, if necessary, a third attempt under similar circumstances. Examples of this phenomenon include the three stages of the Religious Reformation, the three stages of the Humanistic Movement, and the three World Wars.

6. The Law of the Period of the Number Six

According to the Bible, Adam was created within a period of six days, which represents the period of preparation for his creation by God. In exactly the same way, in the providence of re-creation, God began to prepare the way for receiving the Messiah six centuries before the coming of Jesus, the second Adam, thus applying the rule of the number six. Confucius in China, Buddha in India, Zoroaster in the Middle East, and the first philosophers in Greece appeared nearly simultaneously about six centuries BC. This is not a random occurrence. Rather, it corresponds to the preparation period for the coming of the Messiah. In much the same way, from the 14^th century AD on (i.e., six centuries before the return of Christ) the movements of the Religious Reformation and the Renaissance took shape, coinciding with a rapid development of science and economics that has been continuing until today. This period of six centuries, starting in the 14^thcentury AD, represents the preparation period for the return of the Messiah.

7. The Law of Responsibility

As in the providence of creation, the providence of re-creation can only be completed when God’s portion of responsibility and the human portion of responsibility are fully combined. The human portion of responsibility means that the providential figures in history freely choose to take upon themselves the mission that is given to them and succeed in fulfilling it. This in turn means that when the providential figures fulfill their part of responsibility in completing God’s will by applying their insights and their efforts, the providence for restoration reaches a new level. That, on the other hand, when they do not succeed in completing their responsibility, the providence of which they are the center ends in failure. In that case, the providence is prolonged and, after the lapse of a time period corresponding to a certain number, a new historical figure is called by God to complete a similar providence.

1. The Laws of Restoration

            While the laws of creation relate to the creation of the universe and to give-and-take action, the laws of restoration are introduced to allow for fallen human beings, who have taken a position contrary to the laws of creation, to start the course of restoration by going through a process of indemnification. Accordingly, the restoration of humankind to the original state requires another set of laws, namely, the laws of restoration. These include (1) the law of indemnity; (2) the law of separation; (3) the law of restoration of the number four; (4) the law of condition-based providence; (5) the law of the false preceding the true; (6) the law of the horizontal reappearance of the vertical; and (7) the law of synchronous providence.

1. The Law of Indemnity

            Human beings lost their original state and position through the fall. To recover that position, they need to fulfill a certain condition. The process of fulfilling this condition is called indemnityand the process of thus returning to the original state and position is called restoration through indemnity. Finally, the condition to be fulfilled in the course of restoration through indemnity is called a condition of indemnity. More specifically, this refers to the foundation of faith and the foundation of substance that were both lost due to the fall and need to be reestablished. To establish the foundation of faith means that the people must follow as a leader a central figure chosen by God and thus establish a certain condition during a period of indemnity based on a specific number. The foundation of substance means that the people follow that central figure chosen by God in obedience and unity. Throughout history, righteous people, saints, and sages have had to follow a path of suffering in order to establish a condition of indemnity and to restore fallen people to God’s side. This is an example of the way the law of indemnity is at work in human life.

2. The Law of Separation

            Separation in this context refers to the appearance of a side of goodness and a side of evil separated into clearly defined positions. All conflicts, quarrels, and wars of human history are ultimately based on a struggle between good and evil in terms of the view of value. Due to the fall, human beings, who originally were meant to relate only to God (goodness), found themselves in a midway position where they relate to two lords, God and Satan. It is not possible for God to work for his principled Providence through fallen people standing in such a non-principled position. Therefore, fallen people had to be separated between God’s side (the side of goodness) and Satan’s side (the side of evil), with the intent that the side of goodness would overcome the side of evil and thus restore the world to goodness. This is the meaning of the law of separation. The materialistic view of history considers the conflicts of human history in terms of class struggle, but this is by and large a fabrication destined to justify violent revolution. In reality, human history is not the history of class struggle but the history of the struggle between the sides of good and evil. Even in the case of conflicts that resemble class warfare in some respects, the fundamental nature of the struggle remains that of a fight between good and evil.

3. The Law of Restoration of the Number Four

            The number four is a conditional number symbolizing the restoration of the family-level four-position foundation lost to Satan due to the fall. God’s purpose of creation was to substantially realize his love through the family four-position foundation. Hence, the restoration of the number four takes on the meaning of restoring the family four-position foundation, the ultimate goal of the providence of restoration. For this, God always begins his conditional providence by establishing a time period based on the number four or a derivative of four, such as forty or four hundred. This method refers to the law of restoration of the number four. Examples include the forty days of the flood judgment at Noah’s time, Moses’ forty years in the wilderness, and the four hundred years of Christian persecution under the Roman Empire.

4. The Law of Condition-Based Providence

            Under certain circumstances, if a central person fulfills (or fails to fulfill) the human portion of responsibility in accordance with God’s will in a particular providential event, this will determine the character of a future providential period. Providential events do not occur accidentally but, to some degree, they are predetermined by various elements inherited from the past. The way providential events unfold in a given period affects the character of subsequent historical events (i.e., present events precondition the future). This recurring providential condition is based on the law of condition-based providence.

            In the Old Testament Era, the doves sent out by Noah, the Tabernacle, and the Temple were not simply meaningless items; they symbolically prefigured the future coming of the Messiah. Precisely speaking, “condition-based providence” means that, whenever the historical figures called to fulfill God’s conditional providence were unable to complete their portion of responsibility, Satan was able to invade the course of the substantial Messiah based on these negative conditions.

5. The Law of the False Preceding the True

            In the course of history, according to the law of the false preceding the true, what is false will appear before what is true or genuine. Human history began as an evil history when the side of evil gained supremacy over the side of goodness. Throughout the changing course of history, Satan has always tried to realize his ideal in advance of the side of Heaven. God has had to follow in his footsteps in order to restore to the heavenly side the world and the people that Satan had raised by imitating the original ideal. In sum, prior to the appearance of a true ideal world on Heaven’s side, a false ideal world on Satan’s side has appeared, in accordance with the law of the false preceding the true. For example, before a heavenly global nation could appear centering on Jesus, the global nation of the Roman Empire was established, centering on Julius Cesar. In the Last Days, before a unified world centered on the returning Messiah can be established, an imitation ideal world on Satan’s side has to appear in the form of the communist world.

6. The Law of the Horizontal Reappearance of the Vertical

            Vertical refers to the accumulation of historical events through the passage of time, and horizontal refers to the horizontal expansion of the present world. “Horizontal reappearance of the vertical” means that all providential events and figures of history reappear on the world level at the consummation of human history in order for God to complete his providence of restoration. Through this phenomenon, historical events of God’s dispensation that have not been solved throughout the course of time can be successfully resolved in the Last Days. Thus, providential history can be completed by having the entirety of the providential contents restored at once. Many difficult and complicated problems appear all over the world in the Last Days because all the events accumulated vertically throughout the course of history unfold at once, horizontally, in the present world. According to God’s providence, all the unresolved providential situations of history are solved horizontally (simultaneously) centering on the returning Messiah.

7. The Law of Synchronous Providence

            According to the law of synchronous providence, a certain type of providential event (including a central figure, a condition to be met, and a numerical period) can be repeated from period to period. When a historical central figure fails to complete a portion of responsibility, the providence centered on that particular individual comes to an end. After a certain lapse of time, a different, but similar individual will be chosen and asked to restore the failure of the earlier providential period by performing a similar historical action, thus repeating the same pattern. Examples are the two thousand year period from Abraham until Jesus and the two thousand year period from Jesus until the present day, the time of the return of the Messiah. The contents, key figures, events, and time periods within these two providential eras are extremely similar. This demonstrates the synchronous character of historical periods that repeat with similar contents.

 III.      Changes in History

History has been undergoing changes by following two different courses: development (progress) and restoration (turning). Development refers to advances in the sciences, economics, and culture; restoration means recovering the ideal world of love and peace that was lost. These two different directions reflect the fact that history consists of a history of re-creation and a history of restoration.

In the course of historical change, the most important laws are the law of give-and-take action, the law of repulsion, the law of separation, and the law of indemnity. The law of give-and-take action is responsible for development in history; the law of repulsion, the law of separation, and the law of indemnity taken together cause changes in the direction of history. Hence, in historical change, the law of give-and-take action alone becomes the law of development, and the three other laws form the law of turning. This law is also called the “law of the struggle between good and evil.”

Development itself only occurs through give-and-take action between subject and object centering on a common purpose. This excludes any presence of conflict or opposition. In communism’s materialistic view of history, class struggle is seen as the source of historical development. In reality, however, contradiction and conflict block development. They, in fact, make it impossible, rather than promoting it. Conflicts that have arisen in history have not been the product of class warfare, as the materialistic dialectic would have it. They have been conflicts between good and evil coinciding with turning points in history. Turning in history occurs at a certain point of historical development. At that point, if good is victorious in the struggle over evil, history takes a turn in the direction of restoration. In this phenomenon, the law of repulsion, the law of separation, and the law of indemnity are at work simultaneously. Each time these three laws of turning have been at work in history, a conflict or a war has occurred. However, this does not absolutely have to be the case. If the leader who stands on the side of evil surrenders to the leader on the side of goodness and follows him, a peaceful change of direction is possible. The process of change in history is represented in Fig. 16.

Fig. 16: Changes in History

 

Chapter IX

EPISTEMOLOGY

            Epistemology, the science of knowledge, is a branch of philosophy that deals with fundamental issues related to the question of how knowledge of a given object can be obtained, and more specifically how correct knowledge can be obtained. Its goal is to bring to light the origin and object of cognition and to discuss the method and development of cognition. Epistemology as a philosophical discipline has been affected by modern physiology and medicine. It has often applied the experimental method to study the process of acquiring knowledge, and yet, many points are still in need of clarification. Unification Epistemology’s task is to clarify the entire range of questions pertaining to cognition and knowledge, including problematic issues inherited from the past.

I. Outline of Unification Epistemology

The main issues commonly debated in discussions on epistemology are the questions of the origin of cognition, its object, and its method. The position of Unification Epistemology on each of these points will now be introduced.

1. The Origin of Cognition

In terms of the origin of cognition, the philosophical positions that have traditionally been opposed to each other are those of empiricism and rationalism. In past epistemologies, the relationship between the subject of cognition (human beings) and the object of cognition (all things) could not be satisfactorily explained. Those defending the position of rationalism (with an emphasis on the subject of cognition) have tended to insist that accurate knowledge is only possible through human reason, whereas those defending the position of empiricism (putting the emphasis on the object of cognition) have stressed that cognition occurs by grasping the object as it is, through sensation. Kant, who attempted to unify rationalism and empiricism, thought that cognition occurs when the sensory content coming from the object and the categories (forms) of understanding present in the subject are brought together and synthesized by the power of imagination.

According to Kant’s view, understanding takes place when the elements contained within the subject (human beings) and those contained within the object (all things) are joined. However, the necessary connection between the subject and the object and the way in which the two are combined is not clearly understood. For Kant, the human subject of cognition is only able to understand the world of sensory experience within the scope of the forms, or categories of human understanding. In his view, the thing-in-itself, which corresponds to Unification Thought’s sungsang, is unknowable.

According to Unification Thought, cognition occurs when the human subject makes a judgment relating to a thing (an object of human dominion). While experience is also involved in making cognitive judgments, judgment itself is produced by the activity of human reason. Therefore, experience and reason together are needed in cognition. Accordingly, in Unification Thought, experience and reason are both equally indispensable and cognition takes place through the unified operation of the two. Also, because human beings and all things by nature resemble each other as subject and object, human beings are able to experience full and accurate cognition of all things.

1. The Object of Cognition

            Philosophers have been divided over the issue of the object of cognition. The issue in question is whether the object of cognition (i.e., a given thing) actually exists, as realism maintains, or whether it only exists within the human mind, as maintained by subjective idealism. In Unification Epistemology, both standpoints are brought together. Unification Thought acknowledges that all things exist objectively outside the human subject of cognition, i.e., Unification Thought accepts realism. Human beings, as the subjects of all things, exercise dominion over them and are able to cognize them. Since all things are the objects of human dominion and cognition, they must exist externally, independently of human beings.

            In subjective idealism, the existence of things as we experience them everyday is denied. Things are considered to be nothing but ideas that appear in our consciousness. According to Unification Thought, this amounts to recognizing only the subject element of cognition, namely the ideas (prototypes) that exist in the mind. Cognition means judgment, and judgment can be regarded as a sort of a measuring act. For measurement, a certain standard (criteria) is needed, and it is the ideas within the human mind that fulfill that function. These ideas are called prototypes. Prototypes are mental images within the mind of living beings, i.e., they are ideas that are present in our mind or consciousness. Cognition takes place when a prototype (an image within the mind) and an image coming from an external object are collated as subject and object. Thus, Unification Epistemology is a theory of collation where the subject of cognition (ideas) and the object of cognition (things) establish a mutual give-and-take relationship. As we have seen, subjective idealism emphasizes the reality of ideas and realism stresses the reality of things. In Unification Thought, neither of these two essential elements standing in a mutual relationship of subject and object can be dispensed with.

1. The Method of Cognition

In terms of the method of cognition, the philosophical world has been sharply divided between Kant’s transcendental method and Marx’s dialectical method. The two are unified in Unification Epistemology. According to Kant’s transcendental method, elements of sensation coming from external things (their shape, color, etc.) are perceived by the human mind through the a prioriforms (categories) of our understanding. Thus, the leading element in cognition always consists of the way in which the subjectivity of our judgment evaluates the sensory contents by applying what Kant calls the a priori categories. The things that form the objects of cognition provide the content of experience, and the human subject of cognition applies the a prioricategories. According to Unification Thought, however, things have both content and form, i.e., attributes and categories of existence, and the body of the human subject has content and form as well. The form and content of human beings and those of the things perceived in cognition resemble each other. By mutually interacting through give-and-take action, they provide the first stage in the process of cognition.

At this stage, the give-and-take action is of an external nature. It is the process by which a cognitive image is produced within the human body (through its sensory organs). This is called an external image. For instance, when we see a flower, an image of the flower is reflected in our retina and appears in our cerebrum as transmitted through the optical nerves. However, cognition cannot be achieved through this process alone. It will only take place when a standard of measurement is present in our mind. Such a standard will lead, e.g., to the judgment that the image appearing in our sensory organs “is a flower.” This standard of judgment is a concept or prototype. This prototype, in turn, must necessarily be equipped with the subject’s essential components, i.e., content and form. Thus, the image present in our mind acts as the subject and the image appearing in our body functions as the object; when the two are collated there is an inner give-and-take action and the process of cognition is completed. In other words, cognition is the product of give-and-take action on two levels, external and internal. In view of that, the method of cognition in Unification Thought is neither identical with the transcendental method nor identical with the dialectical method. It is a method based on give-and-take action and can be called the give-and-take method.

In Marx’s dialectical method, matter determines the mind, which corresponds to the position of materialism. According to dialectical materialism, only material things have objective existence and thus content (attributes) and form (form of existence). From this perspective, the material element alone plays the decisive role in cognition. Thus, the categories of understanding that appear in human consciousness are merely a shadowy reflection of the forms of existence of material reality. The method of Marxist dialectics represents a reversal of the proper order in the relationship between subject and object. It denies that there is also content and form in human consciousness, i.e., in the subject. From this perspective, the give-and-take method of Unification Thought appears as a combination of the transcendental method and the dialectical method. Precisely speaking, Unification Epistemology includes an element of dialectical materialism in the outer give-and-take action and it includes an element of Kant’s transcendental method in the inner give-and-take action. We can thus say that it unites the two theories (see Fig. 17).

Fig. 17: Unification Epistemology as the Unification of the Transcendental Method and the Dialectical Method

1. Content and Form in Cognition

In both the mind and the body of human beings (the subjects of cognition) there are content and form that correspond to all things. Cognition, then, is the collation of content and form that occurs between things and the human body and, further, between the human body and the human mind; it is give-and-take action.

1. Content and Form of the Object and Subject

The process of cognition is completed in two stages. First, outer give-and-take action occurs between all things and the human body (our sensory organs); then, inner give-and-take action occurs between the human body and the human mind. In other words, an external image is created in the human body through outer give-and-take action. Then an image is formed through inner give-and-take action within the human mind. At the first level, the give-and-take action consists of the collation between the content and form of perceived things and the content and form of the human body. The human person is an encapsulation of the universe (a microcosm) and the integration of all things. Therefore, the human body has the same attributes (structure, elements, texture, etc.) as all things in a compact form, which makes the first stage of give-and-take action possible. The content of the object of cognition (a thing) refers to its various attributes, which include such things as shape, weight, size, color, and sound. The form of the object of cognition refers to the specific context in which theses attributes appear. Hence, the context that determines the boundaries in which an attribute appears is called the form of existence.

The human body as well has content (attributes) and form (form of existence) corresponding to the content and form of all things (the objects of cognition). But cognition is not possible merely due to the fact that our body and all things share a similar content and form. A second level is necessary, that of inner give-and-take action between our body (the external image) and our mind (ideas). Since cognition is a sort of judgment, the mind must be equipped with criteria that enable it to evaluate the images coming from the external world as they are reflected through the body. And since cognition is a phenomenon of thinking through which the external object is evaluated, the mind of the subject must also be equipped with content and form. The content and form present in the mind of the subject is what we refer to as prototypes. When collation occurs between the content and form of the material elements of all things (as reflected by way of the human body) and the prototypes (our mental content and forms), the cognitive process is at last completed.

In summary, first, the content and form of the human body corresponds to the material content and form of all things. Second, the content and form of our mental images, i.e., the prototypes, corresponds to the content and form of our body. This two-stage development in the act of collating content and form represents the cognitive process.

1. Elements Making Up a Prototype

The prototypes constitute the criteria, or standard of judgment by which the mind evaluates the sensory messages that reach it through the body, coming from the material world. They are concepts. The material elements of all things have both content and form. Thus, the prototypes that correspond to them must naturally also have content and form. The content of the prototype is called the protoimage and its form is referred to as the relational image, or image of form.

The protoimage represents the aspect of content of the prototype. It is the standard of judgment that is reflected in consciousness. In fact, the protoimage is a mental image of the attributes of the cells and tissues as reflected in consciousness on the cellular level. As a mental image, the protoimage is a mental content that corresponds to a material content. As such, it is a sungsang-type content. In short, our mental images correspond to the content or attributes of all things. In terms of content, cognition is made up of the correspondence between protoimages, a mental content in the human mind (subject), and the material content or attributes of all things (object), as they are perceived by the senses. When give-and-take action occurs between them, cognition becomes a reality.

The image of form, or relational image, on the other hand, represents the form aspect of the prototype. It represents the thought form, or standard of judgment within our consciousness. In reality, the image of form is the form of existence of cells and tissues as it is reflected in consciousness at the cellular level. It is a thought form that gives certain restrictions to the action of thinking. The human body, which encapsulates the universe and encompasses all things, has the same form of existence as all things. However, cognition will not be achieved unless there is a thought form within our consciousness representing the ultimate standard of judgment. Hence, from the point of view of form, the cognitive process is completed when the forms of existence of all things (object) establish a give-and-take action with the corresponding thought forms existing in human consciousness (subject).

III. Protoconsciousness, Image of Protoconsciousness, and Thought Forms

1. Protoconsciousness

From the perspective of God’s consciousness, the universe created through the Logos (reason-law) is the locus of cosmic consciousness. Protoconsciousness is the individualized cosmic consciousness that permeates tissues and cells. From the perspective of the function of the mind, protoconsciousness is a mind of a lower level. Thus, we can say that it is a lower level cosmic consciousness that has penetrated cells, or that it is God’s mind operant at a lower level. Just as an electric wave enters a radio and produces a sound, cosmic consciousness penetrates cells and tissues and gives them life. In the end, protoconsciousness can be equated with life. It is potential consciousness endowed with sensitivity, perceptiveness, and purposefulness.

The function of protoconsciousness is to decipher hereditary information (the genetic code); to cause the cells and tissues of the body to act according to that code; and to transmit information. Once cosmic consciousness penetrates the cells and becomes protoconsciousness, it reads the genetic code of the DNA. Then, it causes the cells and tissues to act according to the instructions contained in that information. Protoconsciousness also has the function of causing the growth and development of cells and tissues, the creation and growth of new organs, and the reciprocal relationship between cells and tissues in the growth of living beings.

1. Formation of the Image of Protoconsciousness

            Protoconsciousness has sensitivity that allows it to sense the structure, constituents, qualities, and changing conditions of cells and tissues intuitively. Here, the content sensed by protoconsciousness (i.e., the mental image of the attributes or contents of the cells reflected onto protoconsciousness) is the protoimage. Protoconsciousness is able to grasp the content or attributes of cells.

            Furthermore, the conditions required for the inner give-and-take action between the elements within the cell (the nucleus and the cytoplasm) and the outer give-and-take action between different cells are referred to as the form of relation. Since the bodies of human beings and other beings can only exist under such conditions, the form of relation is also called form of existence. The form of existence is reflected on protoconsciousness, resulting in a mental image that we chose to call a relational image or image of form.

            Protoconsciousness has protoimage and relational image (image of form), which together we call image of protoconsciousness, which is the same thing as the prototype mentioned above. Precisely speaking, when considering the process from the perspective of the image reflected on protoconsciousness, we speak of an image of protoconsciousness. When considering the process from the point of view of the subject of cognition, we speak of a prototype.

1. Formation of the Forms of Thought

            The body is the encapsulation of all things. Therefore, the form of existence of all things is also the form of existence of the body. Since this form of existence is reflected onto protoconsciousness, it is also a mental form, or a relational image. A mental form is a thought form that comes into being based on the form of existence. The thought form(s) thus corresponds to the form(s) of existence. In this way, when the form of existence (form of relation) present on the material level in cells and tissues is reflected onto protoconsciousness, it becomes a mental form or relational image. This relational image on the cellular level becomes a type of information that is transmitted to the higher center of the brain. Through this process, various images of relation are grouped and categorized. When they reach the cortex center, a thought form is established, i.e., a thought form is created on the level of the brain as a mental form corresponding to the form of existence in the external world.

1. Forms of Existence and Thought Forms

            Since the thought forms corresponds to the forms of existence, we cannot understand the former without properly understanding the latter. In order for things to exist, individual entities must be related to each other, and the same is true of the various elements making up each entity, whereby the form of relation is the form of existence. In Unification Epistemology, the forms of existence are based on the four-position foundation, give-and-take action, and the origin-division-union action. The forms of thought (mental forms) correspond to these forms of existence. In Unification Epistemology, there are ten basic forms of existence.

1. Existence and Force
2. Sungsang and Hyungsang
3. Yang and Yin
4. Subject and Object      
5. Position and Settlement
6. Permanence and Change
7. Action and Effect         
8. Time and Space
9. Number and Principle
10. Finitude and Infinity      
11. The Method of Cognition
12. Give-and-Take Action

The method of cognition is the method of give-and-take action. Therefore, we can state that cognition is the product of give-and-take between subject and object. In cognition, subject refers to a person who fulfills certain conditions by showing interest in the object and through processing prototypes. Object, on the other hand, refers to things that fulfill the conditions proper to an object by having content (attributes) and form (form of existence). Cognition means acquiring and increasing one’s knowledge, thus it can be included in the concept of multiplication through give-and-take action.

1. The Formation of the Four-Position Foundation

Cognition is realized as the result of the give-and-take action between subject and object, centering on purpose. Thus, for give-and-take action to produce cognition, four elements or positions, i.e., a center (purpose), a subject, an object, and a resulting being are absolutely necessary. The first step in the process of cognitive give-and-take action consists of purpose standing in the central role or position. This purpose, in turn, consists of the purpose of existence of all things, according to the Principle, and purpose in the ordinary sense, as it applies to individual beings in daily life. The second step in the cognitive process is the role or position of the subject. As was stated, the subject must both show interest for the object and have prototypes. The third step is the object (in this case all things), which must have attributes (content) and form of existence or form of relation (form). The fourth step is the result, cognition itself.

Fundamentally, cognition is the process by which the content and form of the subject and the content and form of the object are collated through give-and-take action and are made into one united body. Creation proceeds from an inner developmental four-position foundation to an outer developmental four-position foundation. Cognition, on the other hand, proceeds by first realizing an outer identity-maintaining four-position foundation, then an inner identity-maintaining four-position foundation.

1. The Process of Cognition
2. The Sensory Stage of Cognition

The sensory stage is the formation stage of the cognitive process, in which the outer identity-maintaining four-position foundation is first established (Fig. 18). Centering on a conscious or unconscious purpose, give-and-take action between the subject (a human being) and the object (a thing) takes place and the content and form of the object are reflected on the sensory centers of the subject, forming an image or a representation. This sensory content and sensory form can be referred to as the sensory cognitive image. At the sensory stage, the sensory content and sensory form are merely a fragmentary assemblage of images, which have not yet become a unified cognition of the object. Therefore, at this stage, knowledge of the object is not yet concrete.

Fig. 18: The Sensory Stage of Cognition

1. The Understanding Stage of Cognition

The understanding stage is the growth stage of the cognitive process, in which the inner identity-maintaining four-position foundation is established (Fig. 19). With this stage, cognition reaches a degree of completion. First, the sensory cognitive image that has been formed in the outer four-position foundation is transferred to the position of object (the inner hyungsang) in the inner four-position foundation. Then, the prototypes corresponding to the sensory cognitive image are drawn from the memory by spiritual apperception. These two elements (the sensory image and the prototypes) combined constitute the inner hyungsang. Give-and-take action of the collation type then takes place, as spiritual apperception (the subject) compares the two object elements, i.e., the prototype and the sensory cognitive image, and decides if they coincide or not. The process of comparing is referred to as collation. It is through this collation that cognition occurs. Unification Epistemology thus is a theory of collation in terms of methodology.

Fig. 19: The Understanding Stage of Cognition

1. The Rational Stage of Cognition

The rational stage is the completion stage of cognition and refers to the process of thought in which reasoning proper and the association of ideas take place (Fig. 20). The subject, or inner sungsang, chooses necessary elements from among the various ideas, concepts, mathematical principles, and laws already present within the inner hyungsang and performs various mental operations with them, such as association, separation, analysis, and synthesis. These operations are performed when the inner sungsang establishes a comparison between the ideas and concepts within the inner hyungsang. This amounts to give-and-take action of the collation type, through which new ideas and concepts can be obtained. Knowledge increases through the repetition of such operations.

Fig. 20: The Rational Stage of Cognition

1. The Process of Cognition and the Physical Conditions
2. Parallelism between the Psychological Process and the Physiological Process

The human being is a dual being of mind and body. The cells, tissues, and organs constituting the body are all composed of both mental and physical elements. Additionally, human actions and operations are also dual in nature, which means that psychological and physiological actions are always at work in parallel. Therefore, in the view of Unification Thought, psychological and physiological processes are similarly at work in parallel in the cognitive act. Mental activity, for example, arises through give-and-take action between the mind and the brain.

This parallelism between the psychological process and the physiological process similarly manifests itself as a phenomenon of correspondence in the transmission of information. The human person constantly receives various types of information from outside and inside the body and responds to these. The stimulation received by a receptor (sense organ) such as the eyes, the ears, or the skin, becomes an impulse and passes through the afferent path of the nerve fibers to reach the central nerves. The central nerves process that information and send out instructions that are transmitted as impulses through the efferent path of the nerve fiber to the effectors (muscles and glands), which respond to it. For Unification Thought, behind this physiological process of transmitting information there must necessarily be an accompanying conscious process. That is, behind the movement of the chemical matter in the nerve fiber and the transmitter substances at the synapses, protoconsciousness is at work on the level of the cells, perceiving the content of the information and transmitting it to the center.

In today’s theory of cybernetics, the phenomenon of consciousness also appears to advance synchronously with the physiological transmission of information on the cellular level. Cybernetics studies the automation of the transmission and control of information in machines. In living beings, the phenomenon of cybernetics occurs when stimulus and response are transmitted from the sensory organs to the central nerves, the peripheral nerves, and the muscles. However, in the case of living beings, this automatism is not merely a mechanical operation, but the autonomous operation of a self-regulating organism. On the cellular level as well, there is a continuous repetition of the transmission of information from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and the response from the nucleus, whereby the cell exists and multiplies. This process demonstrates that autonomy (which is a form of consciousness) is at work on the level of each individual cell. In other words, this autonomy is called life or, to use Unification Thought terminology, protoconsciousness.

1. Physiological Processes and Three Stages of Cognition

            According to contemporary cerebral physiology, there are physiological processes in the cerebral cortex that correspond to the three stages of cognition. First, the information about sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch is transmitted through the peripheral nerves to the sensory area corresponding to the visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, and tactile senses respectively. This physiological process corresponds to the sensory stage of cognition. Second, the information from the sensory area is gathered in the parietal association section, where it is understood and judged. This process corresponds to cognition in the understanding stage. Third, based on this understanding, thinking is made in the frontal association area, and creative activities are carried out, which corresponds to the rational stage of cognition.

1. The Formation of Prototypes and the Physiological Process

            As stated above, in the sensory stage, the content (attributes) of cells and tissues corresponds to the protoimage, and the mutual relationship between these elements corresponds to the relational image. Since this protoimage and relational image are constituted on the levels of cells and tissues, they can be called terminal protoimage and terminal relational image respectively. On the other hand, the protoimage and the relational image that arise at the understanding stage of cognition are called central protoimage and central relational image. In the process by which the terminal protoimage and the terminal relational image reach the higher center through the nerve paths, they undergo selection at each level of the central nervous system where they are combined and associated to become a central protoimage and central relational image. When a central relational image reaches the cerebral cortex, it becomes a thought form. Here, each level of the central nervous system stores protoimages and relational images on its own level of the cerebral cortex.

            Among the elements composing the prototypes, we also find empirical images (and notions). These empirical images are the images or notions gained through prior experience and stored in the memory center. They will thus become portions of prototypes that will be used for further cognition. These are called empirical prototypes, whereas those prototypes that are present from the beginning are called inborn or original prototypes. Borrowing from the language of physiology, we could say that original prototypes correspond to hereditary memory, while empirical prototypes correspond to acquired memory.

1. The Ideation of Codes and the Encoding of Ideas

            In the process whereby a human subject cognizes an object, the information coming from the object, upon reaching the sense organs (the eyes, the nose, etc.), turns into an impulse, which is a kind of code, and reaches the higher center through the sensory nerves. The impulse, then, is ideated in the sensory center in the cerebral cortex and is reflected in the mirror of consciousness as a particular notion or idea. This is the ideation of a code. On the other hand, in the case of practice involving an object, actions are taken based on certain ideas. In that case, the idea becomes an impulse, passes through motor nerves, and moves an effector (a muscle). This is the encoding of an idea.

 

Chapter X

LOGIC

1. Unification Logic

As a system of logic, Unification Logic deals with the method and form of our thinking. However, its first consideration is the direction our thinking is meant to take. This implies pondering the starting point of thinking as well as its direction. Unification Logic seeks to identify the criteria for thinking and further deals with related topics.

1. Basic Position
2. The Starting Point and the Standard of Thinking

Why do human beings think? What is the source of human thinking? It is the fact that God himself started by thinking before beginning the act of creation. Thus, motivated by Heart, God established the purpose of realizing love and he engaged in thinking according to this purpose before creating the universe. This thinking within God’s mind is his plan, i.e., the Logos or the Word. Thus, the thinking of human beings who were created to resemble God was not originally intended to be focused on self-interest. Rather, human thinking was destined to unfold with the purpose of realizing love. Accordingly, the motivation of human thought is Heart and love. Human thinking intends to make love a reality. This is the original starting point of human thinking, and it is its original direction.

The standard of human thinking is found in the Original Image. It is the logical structure of the Original Image. Thus, the inner developmental four-position foundation that comes into being with the Logos of the Original Image provides the framework for human thinking.

2. The Structure of the Original Image and Issues Related to Logic

The inner and outer two-stage four-position foundations in the Original Image are called the two-stage structure of the Original Image. When these inner and outer four-position foundations are considered from a developmental perspective, they are referred to as the two-stage structure of creation. Hence, human beings, who have been created to resemble the Original Image, also possess the two-stage structure of the Original Image and the two-stage structure of creation. Accordingly, our logical structure, our cognitive structure, our structure of existence, and our structure of dominion all resemble the structure of the Original Image, i.e., they each appear as a two-stage structure.

The logical structure refers to the inner four-position foundation of the two-stage structure of creation, while the cognitive structure and the structure of dominion refer to the outer four-position foundation of the two-stage structure of creation. Therefore, logic, which is based on the logical structure, and all spheres of culture, which are based on the cognitive structure and the structure of dominion, are intimately related. The various fields of scientific inquiry correspond to the cognitive structure, while fields related to production and practice, such as industry, politics, the economy, education, and art correspond to the structure of dominion.

1. The Logical Structure of the Original Image
2. The Structure in the Formation of the Logos

As we have just seen, the logical structure of the Original Image is the inner four-position foundation of the two-stage structure of creation, i.e., it is an inner developmental four-position foundation. Therefore, it is the internal structure of the Logos (Fig. 21). Therefore, also, the logical structure is the inner four-position foundation constituting the Logos (blueprint, reason-law) through inner give-and-take action based on Heart and centered on the fulfillment of purpose. Human beings likewise resemble the logical structure of the Original Image and establish an inner four-position foundation to realize the purpose of love. Therefore, human thinking is directed towards love. We can thus say that human thinking exists for the practice of love, and that the freedom we enjoy exists for the same purpose. Applying one’s thinking and freedom to do evil and to hate one’s fellow human beings represents a misuse of these functions.

Fig. 21: The Internal Structure of the Logos.

2. The Two-Stage Structure of Creation

The two-stage structure of creation refers to the two-stage structure of the inner and outer developmental four-position foundations. Since the logical structure corresponds to the inner developmental four-position foundation, is the outer developmental four-position foundation needed in logic? According to Unification Thought, it is indeed needed. The reason is that, in Unification Logic, thinking is not thinking for its own sake, but thinking aimed at the realization of the purpose of creation and the practice of love.

Therefore, the logical structure within the sungsang does not merely exist for the sake of thought. Ultimately, it only has meaning when it is connected to an external four-position foundation. Formal logic is only applied to the forms and laws of thinking proper. From the perspective of Unification Logic, while there is nothing wrong with this approach, it remains incomplete and insufficient. The often repeated statements that there should be “consistency between one’s thoughts and one’s deeds,” and that “theory and practice should be one” have their logical bases in the two-stage structure of creation.

1. The Two Stages in the Process of Thinking and the Formation of the Four-Position Foundation
2. The Stage of Understanding and the Stage of Reason

 Since cognition and thinking are so closely related, it is not possible to consider epistemology and logic without also considering the relationship that exists between them. As explained in the chapter on Epistemology, there are three stages in cognition: the sensory stage, the understanding stage, and the rational stage. Thinking plays an active role in the understanding stage and in the rational stage. Therefore, thinking itself exists as thinking in the understanding stage and thinking in the rational stage. The understanding stage of thinking processes information coming from the senses. The reasoning stage is where the mind goes beyond these sensory data and is able to associate ideas and representations freely. Typically, the stage of understanding is limited to thinking that directly relates to information received, such as when one listens to a lecture and focuses one’s thought on the content of that lecture. The rational stage is when, upon completion of the lecture, one begins to think freely without limiting one’s thoughts to the specific contents of the lecture itself.

The four-position foundation that is realized in the stages of understanding and reason is a logical structure that resembles the structure of the Original Image. In the understanding stage, once the mind has processed cognition obtained from the senses, it utilizes this as the starting point to collate the contents coming from the external world with the prototypes of the internal world. It does so through the intellect. At this stage, cognition is completed and the cognitive and logical structures consist of an inner identity-maintaining (completed) four-position foundation. In the reasoning stage, the insights gained at the understanding stage serve as the starting point. The mind can freely use its power of imagination to generate new ideas from these insights. This corresponds to the inner developmental four-position foundation.

2. The Development of Thinking in the Stage of Reason

Thinking consists of give-and-take action between the inner sungsang and the inner hyungsang. Thus, through give-and-take action between the inner sungsang and the inner hyungsang, a first-stage Logos or plan (a multiplied body) is formed at the conclusion of the thinking process. This one time association of ideas sometimes concludes the process, but generally thinking is an ongoing process. In such cases, the Logos that has appeared through the formation of the first four-position foundation is included as information material in the inner hyungsang of the next stage. Thus, the Logos that is formed in the first stage has been stored in the inner hyungsang as an idea or concept. It is utilized as material for the next step of thinking, together with many other materials (ideas, concepts). In this way, the Logos of the second step is formed, which in turn will be included in the inner hyungsang and utilized as material for further thinking. This will lead to a third, fourth, fifth stage of thinking, and continue endlessly. This constitutes the process for forming the four-position foundation in the rational stage. It is called the development of thinking in spiral form (Fig. 22).

Fig. 22: The Development of Thinking in Spiral Form

3. Basic Forms of Thought

In Unification Thought, the forms of thought correspond to the forms of existence. This is because the constituent elements of the universe correspond to the constituent elements of the human body, and the human body (existence) corresponds to the human mind (thought). As explained in the chapter on Epistemology, on the level of cells and basic tissues, the form of existence is reflected on consciousness (life), thus creating an image of form. This image of form becomes a thought form that gives specific rules to our thinking. In logic, these forms of thought are called categories. In the structure of our thinking, these categories are the ultimate concepts that include all other concepts and cannot be included themselves (while they include all kinds of subordinate notions and concepts, the categories have the largest possible extension and cannot be substituted by any other concept). Generally speaking, the specific character of a system of thought is defined by its categories. In Unification Thought, categories are established based on the four-position foundation and give-and-take action; these are called primary categories. These primary categories of Unification Thought are like the forms of existence. The secondary categories of Unification Thought also appear in other philosophical systems and there is no particular limit to their number. The primary categories and some of the secondary categories are enumerated below:

Primary categories:

1. Existence and Force
2. Sungsang and Hyungsang
3. Yang and Yin
4. Subject and Object
5. Position and Settlement
6. Unchangeability and Changeability
7. Action and Effect
8. Time and Space
9. Number and Principle
10. Finitude and Infinity

Secondary Categories:

1. Quality and Quantity
2. Content and Form
3. Essence and Phenomenon
4. Cause and Effect
5. The Whole and the Individual
6. Abstract and Concrete
7. Substance and Attributes
8. Basic Laws of Thought

In formal logic, the basic laws of thought are the law of identity, the law of contradiction, the law of the excluded middle, and the law of sufficient reason. From the point of view of Unification Thought, however, the law of give-and-take is even more fundamental. In syllogisms, as they are used in formal logic, the conclusion can be deduced with certainty from the major and minor premises. In the end, however, this means that the conclusion is the result of contrast-type give-and-take action, centered on purpose, between the major premise and the minor premise. The same can be said of the law of identity.

The proposition ‘this flower is a rose’ amounts to comparing ‘this flower’ and ‘a rose’ in one’s mind and the fact that they are judged identical is expressed by ‘the … is’. A comparison is a contrast-type give-and-take action. Therefore, we can say that the law of identity is also based on the law of give-and-take. The same is also true of the law of contradiction. From these examples, it becomes clear that the forms and laws of formal logic are all based on the principle of give-and-take.

Does thinking have the freedom to develop beyond forms and laws? The freedom of human thinking is not the ability to violate existing forms and laws; it consists in making free choices without denying these structures. Similarly, in the practice of love, one will always have to follow the general direction given by the purpose for the whole, but the concrete expression of a loving action will vary according to the individual purpose of each person involved. Thus, each individual can freely choose a necessary purpose and direction. If we now consider how thinking freely proceeds by choosing to adopt an existing purpose and direction, we see that this takes place when spiritual apperception present in thinking (inner give-and-take action) freely chooses how to assemble and combine the ideas and notions existing within the inner hyungsang. Thus, the freedom of human thinking is a freedom to make plans. It originates in the free nature of our faculty of reasoning.

1. An Appraisal of Traditional Systems of Logic from the Perspective of Unification Thought
2. Formal Logic

Introduced by Aristotle, formal logic is the study of the forms and laws of pure thinking, i.e., reasoning and making judgments. Unification Logic accepts as they are the conclusions of formal logic regarding the forms and laws of thinking and shows how these are based on the law of give-and-take. But human thinking does not only have the aspect of form; it also has the aspect of content. Thinking has meaning, purpose, and direction, and it is related to other fields. Thus, thinking is not thinking for the purpose of itself, it is thinking for the sake of cognition, practice (dominion), and the fulfillment of the purpose of creation. As for the forms and laws of thinking, they are merely conditions for thinking to take place.

1. Hegel’s Logic

Hegel’s logic does not deal with the form and laws of thought, but rather deals with the form and laws of the development of thought. Furthermore, it does not deal with human thought, but with the thought of God. Hegel understood God as the Logos or as the Idea (the Absolute Spirit), which he considered to be the starting point for the creation of the universe. From the point of view of Unification Thought, God is a God of Heart and he created the universe by means of the Logos, motivated by Heart. In other words, the Logos is the plan for creation constituted within God’s mind and not God himself.

Hegel begins by explaining the development of Being – Nothing – Becoming in the world of the Idea. Because Being as it is has no development, Hegel thinks of Nothing as something to be opposed to Being. Then, according to him, the unity produced by the opposition between the two produces Becoming. However, for Hegel, Nothing is originally a mere interpretation of Being, i.e., it has no meaning beyond that of Being. In terms of existence, the two cannot really be separated. Nevertheless, Hegel makes a distinction between Being and Nothing and, according to his explanation, the two are opposed to each other. Thus, there is a fallacy at the very starting point of the Hegelian system.

Another problem is that, for Hegel, Idea develops itself. From the perspective of Unification Thought, idea(s) belong to the inner hyungsang in the structure of the Original Image. As the functions of intellect, emotion, and will – particularly reason within the function of intellect – act upon the inner hyungsang centering on purpose, the Logos (conception, plan) is formed, becoming a new idea. Accordingly, Logos, or Idea, is something formed through give-and-take action within the mind of God (as effect or multiplied body), and it can never conceivably develop by itself. Further, Hegel held nature to be the self-alienation (or form of otherness) of Idea. This is a way of thinking that leads to pantheism and, from there, easily turns into materialism.

Hegel’s dialectical idealism fails to show the nature of Heart (love) and the purpose of creation. Additionally, Hegel’s God is not the Creator. Rather, he is explained as some kind of a living being that germinates and grows. Also Hegel tried to find the “God of Idea” (the Absolute Spirit) through nature, but Unification Thought holds that there is a relationship of resemblance between God and his substantial object, the created world. This created world is a world created as an object resembling God’s Original Image. The Unification Thought view that there is an ontological resemblance between God and created entities can be thought of as a Theory of the Omnipresence of the Divine Image (the view that the Divine Image is manifested in all created beings or entities).

1. Symbolic Logic

Symbolic logic uses mathematical symbols to investigate the method and form of thinking. It attempts to reduce formal logic to symbols. There is no reason to oppose its efforts to pursue accuracy and rigor in thinking, but it is not possible to fully grasp human thought through mathematical rigor alone. Based on Logos, thinking indeed has a mathematical nature, but the center of Logos is Heart. This means that, in the formation of Logos, Heart has precedence over reason and numbers. Thus, the human being is not only a being of Logos (a rational, law-abiding being), but more essentially also a being of Pathos (a being with Heart and emotions). It is well known that, even in cases where thinking lacks mathematical accuracy, the intentions of one person can be transmitted satisfactorily to another based on the expression of love and emotions. In other words, though accuracy is indeed required in human thinking, it is not absolutely and always necessary to express things in a precise and logical way.

1. Transcendental Logic

Kant’s Logic is referred to as transcendental logic. Unlike formal logic, which deals with the laws and forms of thinking, Kant insisted that our forms of thought possess an a priori character and are essentially transcendental. For Kant, cognition and thinking come into being only when the sensory content coming from the object and the a priori forms of thought of human understanding are brought together and the object of cognition is thus formed. Nevertheless, the truthfulness of thinking in relation to the object of cognition (all things) cannot be guaranteed by what Kant calls the a priori forms and the sensory content.

For Unification Thought, all things, which are the object of cognition, have both content (a sensory content) and form (a form of existence). The human subject of cognition as well has both form (the thought form) and content (the image of content or protoimage). In terms of the natural relationship between human beings and all things, the content and form carried by human beings correspond to the content and form found in all things. Therefore, there is a correspondence between the thought form of human beings and the form of existence of all things. Contrary to Kant, in the Unification Thought perspective the prerequisites needed by the subject to be able to cognize the object are entirely fulfilled. Therefore, the logical nature and truthfulness of our cognition and thought are indeed guaranteed.

 

Chapter XI

METHODOLOGY

            Methodology is the discipline that attempts to shed light on how one can reach objective truth. From the times of ancient Greece until today, numerous philosophers have developed their own brand of methodology in their quest for the ultimate principles of reality. In this chapter, the methodology of Unification Thought is presented, after which traditional methodologies are examined from the standpoint of Unification Methodology.

1. Unification Methodology

            Unification Thought’s methodology (Unification Methodology) is based on what we have referred to as the law of give-and-take action, or law of give-and-take. Furthermore, Unification Methodology also intends to unify the various methodologies that have appeared in the past.

1. Basic Types of the Law of Give-and-Take
2. Identity-Maintaining Give-and-Take Action and Developmental Give-and-Take Action

Give-and-take action between God’s attributes of sungsang and hyungsang first takes place centering on Heart, a process by which the harmonized and united body of the Original Being is formed. This corresponds to the eternal, unchanging, identity-maintaining aspect of God’s nature. But sungsang and hyungsang also establish give-and-take centering on the purpose of creation, which produces a multiplied or new body and corresponds to the developmental aspect. The first process we have called identity-maintaining give-and-take action. The second we have called developmental give-and-take action. In the created world as well, all existing entities have both an unchanging and a changing aspect that are linked to identity-maintaining and developmental give-and-take action respectively.

2. Inner Give-and-Take Action and Outer Give-and-Take Action

Within God’s sungsang, there is first inner give-and-take action between the inner sungsang and the inner hyungsang, which leads to a united body. Next, a new united body is formed through outer give-and-take action between the Original Sungsang and the Original Hyungsang. The entity thus formed is an outer four-position foundation. From the point of view of give-and-take action, the Original Image can be described in terms of inner and outer give-and-take action. This can also be applied to the created world. In the relationship between human beings and all things (nature), human beings think and make plans through inner give-and-take action. At the same time, through outer give-and-take action, they cognize things and have dominion over them, also forming interpersonal relationships. For instance, within the human mind, the relationship between the spirit mind and the physical mind is an inner give-and-take action. On the other hand, the relationship between two people, e.g., husband and wife in a family, is an outer give-and-take action. Fig. 23 helps visualize the various types of such relationships.

In terms of logic, the inner and outer give-and-take actions correspond to the deductive and inductive methods respectively. The deductive method takes place within the human mind and is the method of logical development through inner give-and-take action. The inductive method consists of examining things in the external world through outer give-and-take action. Hence, in Unification Methodology, the two methods, based on inner and outer give-and-take action, proceed in unity. The deductive method and the inductive method are not two separate things. They should be applied side by side, in a unified way, in the pursuit of truth.

Fig. 23: Examples of Inner and Outer Give-and-Take Action

1. The Scope of the Give-and-Take Method

The give-and-take method is the fundamental method for existence and development within God, in human beings, and in nature. In human beings and in nature, each individual embodiment of truth maintains its existence and develops through inner give-and-take action between the correlative elements of subject and object within itself and, at the same time, through outer give-and-take action with other individual entities. Thinking and conversation are also carried out through the give-and-take method. Human thinking proceeds through give-and-take action between the subject element (the inner sungsang, i.e., the faculties of intellect, emotion, and will) and the object elements (the inner hyungsang, i.e., concepts, ideas, principles, and numbers). The judgments and propositions that constitute thought are also based on the give-and-take method. For example, the judgment ‘this flower is a rose’ amounts to comparing ‘this flower’ and ‘a rose’, which is a contrast-type give-and-take action. Human conversation, too, follows the give-and-take method. If one of the partners in a conversation says whatever nonsense comes to his or her mind, the other side won’t be able to understand what that person means. A real conversation takes place through contrast-type give-and-take action, because the laws that apply to one person’s thinking correspond to those that apply to the other person’s thinking.

1. Types of the Give-and-Take Method

 There are the following five types of give and take method, which have already been explained in the chapter on Ontology: 1. bi-conscious type; 2. uni-conscious type; 3. unconscious type; 4. heteronomous type; 5. contrast-type (collation-type).

1. Characteristics of the Give-and-Take Method

The give-and-take method has the following seven characteristics, which were also explained in Ontology: 1. correlativity; 2. purposefulness and centrality; 3. order and position; 4. harmony; 5. individuality and connectedness; 6. identity-maintaining nature and developmental nature; 7. circular motion.

1. An Appraisal of Conventional Methodologies from the Perspective of Unification Methodology
2. Heraclitus’ Dialectic (the “Law of Movement”)

For Heraclitus, fire is the fundamental essence or substance (archē) of the universe. For him, everything is in a state of flux. This means that he emphasizes the aspect of change and becoming in reality. In other words, he only grasps the developmental aspect of things, while ignoring their identity-maintaining aspect. Also, Heraclitus says that war is the father of all things, thus considering the struggle of opposites to be the cause of their development while, for Unification Thought, all things develop through harmonious give-and-take action between their correlative elements.

1. Zeno’s Dialectic (the “Law of Immobility”)

Parmenides, of the Eleatic school, considered being (einai) to be unchanging and permanent and saw all change as being mere illusion. Zeno, who had inherited this way of thinking, denied that there was any movement in things and set out to demonstrate that being was only conceivable in a state of rest. According to Zeno’s theory, a flying arrow is actually at rest.

When Zeno insists that the flying arrow is in fact at rest at any given point, he is referring to a mathematical point that has no space. But, the actual movement of the arrow does take place in time and space. Hence, the movement of an object at any given point in space must be considered within the framework of time and space, no matter how short the distance covered or how short the time. When seen in this light, the flying arrow is not at rest; it is flying through a particular point in space. Since Zeno wanted to prove that the nature of things is permanent and unchanging, he used sophistry in order to show that there is no such thing as motion. Contrary to Heraclitus, he disregarded the developmental aspect of things and only grasped their identity-maintaining aspect.

1. The Socratic Dialectic (Dialogue)

Socrates said that in order to understand truth, one first had to be aware of one’s ignorance. His advice was “know thyself.” He also taught that people could reach the truth by dialoguing with each other with a humble attitude. In Unification Thought terminology, this means that there is multiplication of truth through outer developmental give-and-take action between person A and person B. Thus, through his method of dialogue, Socrates advocated the proper way of give-and-take between one person and another.

1. Plato’s Dialectic (the “Method of Differentiation”)

Plato constructed his system of thought based on the theory of ideas. Plato’s world of Ideas is a conceptual world that corresponds to the world of notions and ideas of the inner hyungsang in Unification Thought’s Theory of the Original Image. Plato thus internalized Socrates’ dialectical method of dialogue, and adopted a method of analysis and synthesis aimed at finding truth within thinking itself. The analytical method intends to clarify the structure of the world of ideas in terms of a hierarchy of values and thus to reach the ultimate, absolute truth through the inductive method (while, on the other hand, the synthetic method corresponds to the deductive method). The analysis and synthesis of concepts is thus carried out through comparison between these concepts. From the viewpoint of Unification Methodology, Plato’s dialectic corresponds to a contrast-type inner give-and-take action performed within the human mind. In the end, Plato’s theory of Ideas is a clarification of this aspect of our thinking process.

1. Aristotle’s Deductive Method

For Aristotle, accurate knowledge can be attained through the deductive method, which consists of reaching a conclusion (a particular proposition) by starting from a premise (a universal proposition). Aristotle’s deductive method is commonly referred to as the method of syllogism, in which two propositions are first introduced. From these premises, a specific conclusion is reached. For example, by comparing the major premise “all men are mortal” with the minor premise “Socrates is a man,” we can derive the conclusion that “Socrates is mortal.” This is a case of contrast-type give-and-take action between two propositions. Besides, the very proposition that “Socrates is a man” is arrived at by a comparison between the terms “Socrates” and “man” and thus also represents a case of contrast-type give-and-take action. Accordingly, Aristotle’s deductive method, as in the case of Plato, can be called a method for the search of truth through contrast-type inner give-and-take action.

1. Bacon’s Inductive Method

Bacon claimed that in order to obtain truth, one must first cast away prejudices (idols) and rely on experiments and observation. Contrary to the deductive method, the inductive method starts out with individual observations as premises and from there reaches universal laws as a conclusion. For instance, in the inductive method, if the results of experiments A, B, C, … are all P, the conclusion P is established as a general law. The inductive method seeks to obtain truth on the basis of outer give-and-take action between human beings and things (nature). Since the method yields a conclusion by comparing various facts obtained through experimentation and observation, it is a contrast-type give-and-take action. Therefore, Bacon’s inductive method is a method of pursuing truth through contrast-type outer give-and-take action.

1. Descartes’ Methodical Doubt

In the process of doubting everything, Descartes reached the proposition “I think, therefore I am,” which he considered to be reasonable knowledge no longer susceptible to doubt. Thus, by doubting all things and phenomena, Descartes systematically denied their reality and eventually reached the realm of accuracy of rational thinking, which means that he reached the internal world of pure thought. From this perspective, “I think, therefore I am” corresponds to God’s thinking before creation or his plan for creation. From the point of view of Unification Thought, Descartes’ famous proposition means that he acknowledged the certainty of the inner give-and-take action within the human mind.

1. Hume’s Experimental Method (Skepticism)

Hume considered the principle of causality to be merely a subjective belief. However, contrary to Hume’s understanding, causality is objective just as much as it is subjective. Furthermore, Hume not only denied material reality; he also denied the reality of spiritual substance (the self) and upheld skepticism, considering existing entities to be nothing more than a bundle of ideas. From the point of view of Unification Thought, Hume only considered the inner hyungsang, i.e., ideas, as certitudes.

1. Kant’s Transcendental Method

Kant considered that cognition is formed when the subject’s a priori forms synthesize the chaotic sensory content coming from the object. Unification Thought agrees that cognition is produced through the correlative relationship between the human subject and the object. However, in the Unification view, the subject not only possesses form (thought form), but also content (protoimage), and what comes from the object (things) is not simply a chaotic sensory content but something that has a form of existence. To Kant’s theory of synthesis, Unification Thought responds with its theory of collation. 

1. Hegel

Hegel grasped the development of the Idea and the development of the world (universe) as the sublation (Aufhebung) of contradictions and their unification through the process of thesis – antithesis – synthesis. For Unification Thought, development can never occur through contradiction. Development takes place when correlative elements standing in the positions of subject and object interact through give-and-take action centered on purpose, the origin corresponding to purpose, the division to the correlative elements, and the union to the united and the multiplied bodies. Unlike Hegel, Unification Thought does not hold that the Idea develops by itself through its own internal contradiction. Rather, the inner sungsang, consisting of the faculties of intellect, emotion, and will, acts upon the inner hyungsang (ideas, notions, and concepts), thus producing new ideas. As explained in the chapter on Logic, the thought process thus constituted takes on the form of spiral development. In conclusion, Hegel wrongly understood the notion of development through give-and-take between correlative elements (as in Unification Thought) to be an interaction between opposing elements.

1. Marx

Marx considered that the material element represents the fundamental mode of existence of reality and that spiritual processes are a mere reflection of it. Hence, he proposed his theory of reflection. For Unification Thought, sungsang (spirit) and hyungsang (matter) stand in a correlative relationship of subject and object. Hence, spiritual laws (laws pertaining to value) and material laws similarly correspond to each other. To the law of transformation of quantity into quality (Marx), Unification Thought responds with the law of balanced development of quantity and quality. According to Unification Thought’s counterproposal, quality and quantity stand in a relationship of sungsang and hyungsang. They change simultaneously, gradually, and stage by stage.

To the law of unity and struggle of opposites, Unification Thought responds with the law of give-and-take action between correlatives. Conflict between opposites only brings about ruin and destruction and does not lead to development. Things can only develop when they perform harmonious give-and-take action as correlative partners, centering on a common purpose. Next, Unification Thought’s counterproposal to the law of the negation of negation is the law of affirmative development. Both in nature and in society, affirmative development takes place when there is a smooth give-and-take action between the correlatives of subject and object. In the realm of nature, inanimate objects perform circular motion in space, while living beings perform circular motion in time (spiral motion). Today, the errors of Marx’s Materialist Dialectic have become obvious to all. A precise observation of natural phenomena, far from confirming the laws of the dialectic, shows them to be false and affirms the law of give-and-take.

1. Husserl

Husserl believed that phenomenology represented the first true philosophy and the foundation of all other disciplines. Thus, phenomenology takes consciousness itself, i.e., the root of all scientific theories and the source of cognition, as its object of investigation. Husserl’s investigations started out with objects of the natural world. From the perspective of Unification Thought, these objects are the united bodies of sungsang and hyungsang. Next, Husserl advocated the intuition of essences through eidetic reduction. Essence, here, corresponds to the sungsang of existing entities. Additionally, Husserl claimed that when judgment is suspended (epochē), and consciousness (pure consciousness) is analyzed, we find a structure of noesis and noema, which correspond, respectively, to the inner sungsang and the inner hyungsang of our mind (sungsang) in Unification Thought. If we consider Husserl’s phenomenological method from the point of view of Unification Thought, we can see that it stresses the importance of the content of the inner four-position foundation and attempts to unify all disciplines by analyzing it.

1. Analytical Philosophy

The position of analytical philosophy has been that it is philosophy’s most important task to logically analyze the structure of language. For Unification Thought, language exists originally for the actualization of love. Thus, the logical structure of language only exists as one of the necessary prerequisites for that purpose. Language is formed through inner developmental give-and-take action, which includes an intellectual aspect centered on reason (the aspect of Logos) and an emotional aspect centered on feeling (Pathos) as well. Analytical philosophy only sees the rational aspect and only investigates the logical nature of things. Finally, analytical philosophy is so much engaged in the logical analysis of language that it has come to disregard the creative and emotional (value-related) aspects of our thought as expressed by language.