II. Divine Principle Foundation for Axiology

According to the Divine Principle, the human being, as a united being of Sungsang and Hyungsang, has both purpose and desire. Desire is part of the original human nature given by God (DP, 70). Furthermore, purpose and desire both have a dual nature. Unification Axiology is formulated on the basis of these fundamental ideas.

1. Sungsang and Hyungsang and Dual Purposes

As a created being, a human being is endowed with a certain purpose for being created (namely, God’s purpose of creation). A human being, endowed with such a purpose is, at the same time, a united being of Sungsang and Hyungsang, namely, a dual being of spirit self and physical self, or a dual being of spirit mind and physical mind. To say that a human being has a purpose for being created means that Sungsang and Hyungsang both have a purpose. The former is called the Sungsang purpose and the latter is called the Hyungsang purpose. Together we may call them the “dual purposes,” and they correspond to the dual characteristics of Sung-sang and Hyungsang.

Here, Sungsang refers to the spirit mind, and Hyungsang refers to the physical mind. Thus, the Sungsang purpose is the purpose of the spirit mind, which is to guide us in leading a life emphasizing truth, goodness, beauty, and love, and the Hyungsang purpose is the purpose of the physical mind, which is to guide us in leading a life emphasizing food, clothing, shelter, and sexual fulfillment.

2. Sungsang and Hyungsang and Dual Desires

A human being is, as just noted, a united being of Sungsang and Hyungsang, namely, a being with a dual mind (spirit mind and physical mind). Therefore, human desire functions in these two modes, namely, there is a Sungsang desire and there is a Hyungsang desire. The Sungsang desire is the desire of the spirit mind which seeks after truth, goodness, beauty, and love, whereas the Hyungsang desire is the desire of the physical mind which seeks after food, clothing, shelter, and sexual fulfillment. These are “dual desires.”

3. Dual Purposes, Dual Desires and Dual Values

According to the Divine Principle, a human being is a connected being with dual purposes: the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual (DP, 33). Thus, the Sungsang and the Hyungsang of the mind are connected to the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual, respectively. Accordingly, both Sungsang purpose and Hyung-sang purpose have the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual.

A desire is an impulse of the mind to achieve a certain purpose. Accordingly, desire seeks to achieve both the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual. The former is called the “desire to realize value,” and the latter is called the “desire to seek value.” Together these are called the “dual desires for value.” This means that both the Sungsang desire and the Hyungsang desire are for realizing the dual purposes. In other words, both the Sungsang desire and the Hyungsang desire have the desire to realize value and the desire to seek value.

Dual values can be explained in connection with dual purposes and dual desires. In the same way that there are dual purposes and dual desires, so too, there are dual values: the “value to be realized” and the “value to be sought.” “The value to be realized” refers to the value that is to be realized or that has been realized. “The value to be sought” refers to the value that is to be sought or that has been sought. Dual purposes, dual desires, and dual values all correspond with one another. An arrangement of the duality of desire, purpose, and value in relation to dual mind (spirit mind and physical mind) is shown in table 4.1.

Table 4.1 The Duality ofDesire, Purpose, and Value

4. Origin of Desire and Purpose of Creation

For what purpose do human desires exist? They exist in order that we might realize the purpose of creation. God’s purpose of creation is for God to receive joy through loving His object partners (human beings and all things). For created beings, however, their purpose of creation is the purpose for which they were created. Particularly for human beings, the purpose for being created is to return beauty and give joy to God. Accordingly, the purpose for which human beings were created can be fulfilled through their realization of the three great blessings, namely, to be fruitful, to multiply, and to have dominion over all things (Gen. 1:28). Therefore, the purpose of creation for human beings is none other than their completion of the three great blessings.

If, at the time of the creation of human beings, God had given them only this purpose but had not given them desire, then the most they would have been capable of doing would be to come up with the mere thought, “There is a purpose of creation,” or “There are the three great blessings.” They would not have felt any necessity for putting such thoughts into action. If this had been the case, then the purpose of creation and the three great blessings could never have been realized. Therefore, God also needed to give human beings the impulsive will to actualize that purpose, the impulse of the mind to do or obtain something. This impulse to do so, is desire. Accordingly, driven by an innate impulse to achieve the purpose of creation, namely, to fulfill the three great blessings, human beings gradually grow to maturity. This desire, with which human beings have been endowed by God, is centered on heart.

A human being is a connected being possessing dual purposes, namely, the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual. Accordingly, the purpose of creation is to fulfill the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual. The purpose for the whole, for human beings, is to realize true love, namely, to serve one’s family, society, people, nation, and world, and ultimately God, the Parent of humankind: the purpose for the whole is to give joy to humankind and to God. On the other hand, the purpose for the individual is to live for one’s own growth and to seek one’s own joy. Not only human beings, but also all things, have a purpose for the whole and a purpose for the individual. This is the two-fold nature of the purpose of creation, or the purpose for being created.

The way in which the purpose of creation is accomplished by all things non-human is different from the way in which human beings accomplish their purpose. Inorganic substances fulfill their purpose of creation following natural law; plants, by following the autonomy of the principle (life) within them; and animals, by following their instinct. Human beings, however, must in addition accomplish their purpose of creation by following and satisfying the desire given to them by God, using their own free will, and fulfilling their own responsibility. As mentioned already, desire is the impulse of the mind to attain a certain purpose. Just as purpose has duality, namely, the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual, there are also dual desires, the desire to realize value and the desire to seek value. Corresponding to the dual purposes and dual desires, value itself also has a duality, namely, realized value and sought-after value, as shown in table 4.1.