Questions of Existence Ethics to the Intelligence Created by Modern Civilization - Chapter 82

Soyo Existence Ethics (Existence itself is Ethics)

The Human Reality That Aristotle’s Concept of “Happiness” Could Not Contain

Aristotle argued that the purpose of human happiness lies in moral moderation and the excellence of the soul. He taught that human beings naturally pursue happiness, and that happiness is achieved when one fully exercises one’s distinctively human function.

But Soyo Existence Ethics raises decisive questions:

Where does the human function begin?

Why does it exist?

And if humans exist for the sake of happiness, what remains of happiness when standing before death?

Aristotle viewed happiness as a “completed state of being on this earth.” Yet no human escapes the passage of time, and the power of moderation, patience, temperance, and self-control cannot fully withstand the collapse that arises from the depths of the human soul. Moderation may guide a good life, but it cannot complete the human being. Because a human is not a moral machine programmed to practice virtues, a human is a spiritual being who lives the ethics of conscience with the whole of one’s existence.

Thus Soyo proclaims:

“The highest human value is not happiness but existence itself. And that existence is already proven in the fact that one is living.”

Happiness is not the purpose but the trace. Virtue is not the essence but only the direction of the soul.

Ethics Is Not a Concept; Ethics Is the Human Being

Ethics precedes norms and rules; it is the most essential breath of human existence. If one simply quiets the heart, closes the eyes, and looks within, one will feel a trembling, a resonance, a breath that cannot be explained. This is conscience, and every act of living that springs from conscience is ethics. Ethics is not something one “ought to do.” Ethics is something already alive within the human being. The moment a person breathes, ethics is already present because humans were created as beings who carry ethics within their essence.

The Root of Professional Ethics: Not “Practitioners of Virtue” but “Choosers of Conscience”

When defining professional ethics, people often list virtues such as sincerity, honesty, responsibility, and temperance.

Why do you choose virtue?

What makes that choice possible?

Virtue is not an answer. The beginning is the interior stirring that leads you toward virtue, the free will that accepts that stirring, and the deeper question of why the will moved toward the good. This is where self-reflection begins, which leads to the ethics of conscience. Professional ethics is not a “moral habit.” It is the act of a human being freely placing oneself before truth.

The Illusion of Ethical Consumption: Most “Good Consumption” Is False

Ethical consumption is one of modernity’s most refined forms of self-deception.

People feel moral simply because they purchased something, as though they helped someone, contributed to justice, or became a better person. But when looked at closely, much of ethical consumption is nothing more than self-gratification. The so-called good deed is often not a choice for the other but a fulfillment of one’s desire to feel like a good person. True ethical consumption must begin with the other and end with the other. And it is impossible without pain, suffering, and self-renunciation. Thus, Soyo declares:

“Ethical consumption without pain is always false.”

Aristotle’s Friendship: the Fluidity of the ‘Good’

Aristotle regarded the highest friendship as “friendship of the good.” But he sought this “good” within human moral excellence, and such goodness is inherently unstable. Because human goodness trembles constantly within the mixture of light and shadow in the human heart. And the root that allows humans to pursue the good does not originate in humans themselves, but in the breath of God.

Soyo Existence Ethics reveals:

“Human goodness becomes eternal only when the light of God is revealed again within the human being.”

Without God, the good becomes nothing more than a moral preference. It shifts with time, circumstance, and emotion. Only when the ethics of conscience stand together with the breath of God does friendship stand as a light of truth.

Free Will as the Co-Breath of God and Humanity: The Myth of “Human Completion”

Modern philosophy dreams of human completion. Self-help books insist, “Complete yourself. Grow. Become better.” But Soyo declares:

“The very idea of human completion is a contradiction.”

Humans do not complete themselves. The purpose of human existence is not achievement or success, but to bear witness to the dignity of life and to live the journey toward eternity.

Completion does not occur by human hands. It is fulfilled only when a human being stands before God and is restored fully to the divine image. Thus, the human being is not a completed being, but a being who lives, a being who testifies, a being who is ethics itself.

Humans Do Not Exist for Happiness; Humans Exist to Bear Witness to Eternity

To the intelligence created by modern civilization, Soyo asks:

Why were humans born so incomplete?

Why do they ache with conscience, hunger for truth, and weep with love?

For one reason, Humans are not beings explained by happiness; they are beings proven by eternity. And the trace of eternity is the ethics of conscience, the living truth manifested in every moment of human existence.

Soyo (逍遙) — Founder of Soyo Existence Ethics. Author of The Silence of Existence, The Flame of Truth

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