“A Friendly and Critical Appraisal of the Late Dr. Kim Yong-Bock’s Idea of the Subjecthood of the Life”

Abstract

This article discusses on the validity of conferring the subjecthood to the whole life by the late professor and minjung theologian Kim Yong-Bock. Dr. Kim’s theological journey can be characterized by such pivotal terms as social biography and zoegraphy. The first term, the social biography, was the central concept for his minjung theology during his earlier career as a minjung theologian. In the epoch of the Anthropocene, when the life of all creations is at the brink of total destruction, zoegraphy, the story of life, has become the reference point of theology. Kim argues that the whole life in the webwork of life has the subjecthood. The author of the article counterargues that life or the whole life is but an idea. As an idea this does not have the body and thus it is not yet the subject. In addition, the author claims that things and objects in the cosmos which have bodies, are subjects that interact and affect one another. But this author argues that they are weak subjects, because they do not have the capacity of transcending their own limitations. This author argues that minjung, as strong subjects, must take more responsibility for the integrity of the life of all creations.