Beyond the Nihility of Existence - An Ethical Refutation of Sartre's Philosophy– Chapter 44

Soyo's Existence Ethics (Existence itself is Ethics)

The Hollow Freedom Left by Existentialism

"Existence precedes essence." Jean-Paul Sartre's statement shook the philosophical foundations of the twentieth century. He sought to liberate humanity from divine intention and defined the human being as a self-determining, autonomous existence. According to him, man is born without meaning, and it is only through living that one creates both meaning and essence. Yet this declaration of freedom was also a declaration of loneliness.

Sartre proclaimed freedom but never asked where that freedom begins. When he said that man could define himself freely, he never revealed the source of such freedom. He spoke of human will but did not explain why that will must exist within man, nor from what origin it has been granted. By denying God, Sartre believed he had freed man, but in doing so, he left man an orphan, a being adrift in a philosophy without roots. Man could now wander freely, but his freedom was uprooted, disconnected from any foundation. Sartre erected humanity upon the void (le néant), and as a result, he produced a paradox: a world where existence is absent, yet life must still be lived. This is the irony of existence and the vacuum of ethics.

The Philosophy that Questions the Ground of Freedom

Soyo's Existence Ethics reopens the question Sartre left unanswered:

"Why must free will exist within human existence?" This question pierces to the heart of philosophy. Sartre regarded freedom as the defining feature of human existence, yet he never examined why this freedom is possible. He considered consciousness to be the creator of freedom, but he never asked how consciousness itself came to possess life. Thus, his existentialism leaves us with what Soyo calls "an unexplained freedom."

Here, Soyo's Existence Ethics begins anew.

Freedom is not an invention of humanity. It is a divine gift, the right to choose through love.

Freedom is not a technique of selection but an act of conscience. And conscience is the inner chamber where the breath of God resides. "Human freedom is the evidence that the breath of God dwells within the human soul." This is the philosophical foundation of the principle, "Existence itself is Ethics," and it restores what existentialism lost: the sacred ground of human beings.

The True Deconstruction - Not of Language, but of Ground

Many philosophers today speak of the "deconstruction of philosophy," but they limit themselves to dissecting language and logic. Soyo, however, declares:

"The true deconstruction of philosophy is the dismantling of an anthropology without the ground of freedom."

Sartre's philosophy presupposed the absence of God. Within that absence, man may appear free, yet he floats in a void of groundless freedom. It is a freedom in which man becomes his own god, a freedom that ultimately leads him to lose himself. Actual deconstruction, Soyo argues, is not the breaking of language but the breaking of illusions: the illusion of godless freedom, baseless existence, and conscience-less autonomy. Only through such ethical deconstruction can man return to his root, the conscience through which the divine breath flows.

The Absence of Existence - The Freedom that Erased Humanity

Sartre's statement appears to liberate humanity, yet in truth, it removes man from the center of his own being.

"To say that existence precedes essence is to declare that the essence of man does not yet exist."

Then, what is man before essence arises? He is nothing. Until he creates his own essence, he remains a being that does not yet exist. Thus, within Sartre's own axiom, the living human being disappears. How can a being that does not yet exist "live"? This is not a poetic paradox; it is the collapse of philosophical ethics. Soyo identifies this clearly:

"To say that existence precedes essence means that there is no pre-defined human nature. Instead, there is a life that must be lived; in this very statement, man disappears." His existence becomes not an actuality but a linguistic illusion, a phantom trapped within the text of philosophy itself.

A Philosophy Where Emotion Overcame Reason

Sartre's declaration appears rational and revolutionary, but at its core lies deep emotional rebellion. He translated his emotional resistance to divine silence into philosophy. 

Yet that rebellion never transcended emotion; it remained emotional philosophy disguised as logic. This is a statement in which emotion triumphed over reason, a destruction of ethics. This insight is precise. Freedom that presupposes the absence of God inevitably devolves into emotional freedom, a self-centered emptiness. Where emotion conquers reason and reason loses conscience, philosophy can no longer speak of truth.

Soyo Existence Ethics proposes another path. True philosophy is not the revolt of emotion but the awakening of conscience. Through the breath of God, emotion is purified, and when emotion transforms into ethical awareness, existence is fulfilled.

The Declaration of Existence Ethics - The Recovery of Being, the Return of Freedom

Soyo rebuilds what existentialism dismantled, the ground of human being. She writes:

"Essence leads existence, and existence proves essence."

This single statement overturns Sartre's dictum entirely. It restores humanity as an ethical being grounded in divine breath. Existence does not precede essence; instead, existence proves essence through the ethical journey of life.

Freedom is not the power to define oneself; it is the ability to respond to divine love through conscience. In that moment of response, human existence proves its essence, and within that proof, man is reunited with the breath of God.

The Homecoming of Philosophy - The Resurrection of Ethics

Sartre sought to liberate man from God, but in doing so, he exiled man from himself. What he left was freedom from nothingness, a freedom that placed human loneliness upon the altar of nihilism. Soyo's Existence Ethics lights a new flame upon that altar:

"Freedom is the ethical choice bestowed by the breath of God. Existence is led by essence, and the divine breath animates essence."

Philosophy must now return to conscience. The philosophy of existence must become the philosophy of ethics, and the philosophy of freedom must become the philosophy of gratitude. This is the way by which man, once again, can live as existence itself, the moment when the void left by Sartre is filled with the language of ethics by the breath of God Himself.

Soyo (逍遙) – Founder of Soyo's Existence Ethics, Author of The Silence of Being and The Flame of Truth

2025 Soyo Philosophy. All rights reserved.

This work is an original philosophical text by Soyo (逍遙), based on Soyo's Existence Ethics system. All reproduction, quotation, summarization, translation, secondary works, or AI training use of this text is strictly prohibited. This manuscript is protected under the Copyright Acts of Korea and the United States, as well as international conventions, including the Berne Convention. It is officially certified as a non-AI human-authored philosophical text, written through conscience and divine inspiration.

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