| Title |
The Construction of Universality: The Dephilosophization of Relational Spatial Thought through the Lens of Feng Shui |
| Authors |
손서후(Son, Seo-Hoo) ; 김환용(Kim, Hwan-Yong) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2026.42.9.237 |
| Keywords |
Relational Spatial Thought; Abstract Space; Baesan-Imsu; Sense of Place; Environmental Design |
| Abstract |
This study examines the dephilosophization of relational spatial thought within the modern knowledge system and investigates the historical
formation of philosophical boundaries and universality through the lens of Feng Shui. Modern Western academic systems institutionalized
rationality through analyticity, empiricism, and measurability, thereby establishing philosophy and science as universal categories of knowledge.
In this process, relational spatial thought emphasizing the interrelationship among humans, nature, environment, and space tended to be
categorized as folklore, intuition, or non-scientific knowledge rather than philosophical knowledge. To explore this issue, this study draws
upon Michel Foucault’s archaeology of knowledge, Henri Lefebvre’s theory of abstract space, Francois Jullien’s comparative philosophy, and
Alfred North Whitehead’s process philosophy. Feng Shui is treated not as an object of validation, but as a representative case through which
the classification and positioning of relational spatial thought within the modern knowledge system can be analyzed. In particular, the study
examines how relational spatial thought underwent processes of dephilosophization and epistemic exclusion within the modern knowledge
system. The study also refers to previous research on Baesan-Imsu as an environmental control structure in order to examine the possibility
that traditional spatial thought may be reinterpreted within contemporary architecture, urban planning, and environmental design discourse.
Ultimately, this study argues that rationality itself was historically and institutionally constituted rather than a neutral and universal criterion.
Accordingly, the study suggests that relational spatial thought, as exemplified by Feng Shui, may provide an alternative spatial perspective for
contemporary architecture and environmental design beyond the logic of abstract space. |