The Irony of Human Life and the Proof of Existential Ethics

Soyo's Existential Ethics

Pain, Tears, and the Birth of Ethics

The Irony of Human Life

“Human life is ironic. Neither good nor evil is recognized or questioned at the time. Only after experiencing pain, suffering, and tears do we begin to understand and question.”

This proposition reveals that humans live in reality yet fail to fully perceive the present. Even when we do good, we pass by unaware it is good; when we commit evil, we grasp its gravity only after the event has passed. Human tears leave deeper questions not when they flow, but after they have dried.

The irony of life lies precisely here. Humans ask only after it has passed. The pain and joy of the present are mere experiences in that moment; meaning arrives belatedly. Human existence perpetually gropes for truth within the gaps of time.

Awareness After Pain: Existential Realization

Humans question themselves only after enduring suffering. Before experiencing loss, they do not know the meaning of love; before facing betrayal, they do not know the value of trust.

Kierkegaard called human despair ‘the sickness unto death’. He said only in despair can humans place themselves before God.

Heidegger said humans only grasp the meaning of existence within ‘Anxiety’. Anxiety was the existential condition forcing one to confront life's transience and death.

Levinas said that only in the face of another's suffering does a human become aware of ethical responsibility. Ethics is born not from sentences in books, but in the presence of another's tears and face.

The ideas of these philosophers all share one common point: only through suffering and tears does a human reach truth.

The Ethics of Existence Itself

The core of Soyo's Proposition is simple. “Human existence itself is ethics.” This is a crucial truth overlooked by traditional ethics. Western philosophy long understood ethics as norms or moral imperatives. Kant stipulated that human actions “must be guided by a universalizable moral law.” Yet this normative ethics fails to account for the concreteness of life's experience and suffering.

Soyo's existential ethics speaks differently. Human existence itself is already an ethical event. Because from the moment of birth, humans bear the destiny of suffering and tears, and it is only through this experience that conscience and responsibility can be learned.

The declaration that existence is ethics means that ethics is not a rule imposed from outside, but a truth that springs from human inner experience and existential awareness.

The Relationship Between Tears and Ethics

Human tears are not merely an emotional release. They are the language of ethics. Tears, without words, testify: “I have been wounded; I am in pain.” And simultaneously, they demand a response: “I have a responsibility to wipe away another's tears.”

Herein lies the greatness of human existence. Humans who become aware through suffering understand others' pain and embrace their tears. This is proof that existence itself is ethics.

What is a Strong Human Life?

The Soyo's Proposition states: “It is the form of a strong human life that proves existence itself is ethics, something human beings can never realize without experiencing suffering, pain, and tears.”

What is a strong life? It is a life that does not turn away from suffering. It is a life that does not shame tears, does not hide pain, and possesses the courage to seek truth within it. The world often equates strength with insensitivity. But true strength is not insensitivity; it is the power to feel, the power to question even while weeping. An existence that does not abandon its humanity even in suffering. That is the image of a strong human being.

Historical Position and Originality

The Wandering Proposition engages with existing philosophical traditions while occupying an original position. If Kierkegaard led despair to self-awareness before God, and if Levinas discovered ethics in the face of the other, Wandering goes a step further to declare that human existence itself is ethics. This work transcends philosophical deconstruction and separation, opening a new philosophical lineage that integrates being and ethics.

Philosophy Proven by Tears

Human life is ironic. We do not know now; we ask too late. Yet it is precisely within this irony that ethics is born. Those who have not passed through pain and tears will never know truth.

Therefore, Soyo Existential Ethics declares:

Human existence is ethics itself. Ethics is not a norm within books; it is proven through suffering and tears. A strong human life is one that does not turn away from suffering but questions it. Tears are the ethical proof of human existence, and philosophy begins anew upon those tears.

Soyo – The Witness to the Confession of Existence and the Philosophy of Truth

This text was first published on the official website of Soyo (逍遙), founder of ‘Soyo's Existential Ethics’: soyophilosophy.kr / soyophilosophy.com. Reproduction, quotation, duplication, summarization, translation, creation of derivative works, AI training and data crawling, or use of content aggregation platforms for the entire text or any part thereof is strictly prohibited without prior written consent.