Übermensch, Zarathustra, and the Philosophy of Suffering for the Restoration of Existence

Soyo's Existence Ethics (Existence itself is ethics)

Crying out in God's silence

Philosophy cannot be completed. To say that philosophy has been completed is to say that human suffering has ceased, which is tantamount to declaring that human existence no longer bears witness. However, humans continue to breathe even in suffering, live even in tears, and ultimately do not cease to bear witness to their existence even in the face of death. Therefore, philosophy is not something that is completed, but something that is lived. Philosophy is not a system or a definition, but a confession of existence that flows from a torn life, and a language that blossoms from the cries of those who have endured the truth. Through Zarathustra, Nietzsche said to humans, “Humans are something that must be overcome.” And he imagined the Übermensch (superhuman).

In a world where God is dead and the traces of God have disappeared, he proclaimed that humans must recreate themselves. He wanted humans to become gods. He argued that they should create their own values and elevate their lives to art. However, the ethics of existence stop at this point. No, rather, it deconstructs the core of that philosophy and asks: “Can humans truly create themselves?” “Is existence an object of creation, or is it already a noble existence that has been created?”

The philosophy that Nietzsche began by proclaiming the “death of God” was ultimately a reflection of the deep spiritual pain of humans who could not ignore the suffering and despair within themselves. The Übermensch was Nietzsche's ideal, but at the same time, it was a shadow of reality that he could not bear. He was a philosopher, but he was also a human being who screamed in front of God's silence. His philosophy was not a worship of truth, but a cry of loss. It was not a blessing of existence, but a resistance to the wounds of existence.

However, when that cry was misused by the politics of reality, humanity once again fell into tragedy. Hitler used the concept of the Übermensch as a tool of racial ideology, and countless lives were massacred because they were “inferior.” The words of a single philosopher caused millions of beings to disappear. This is the responsibility of philosophy.

This is the ethical duty that existential ethics asks of philosophy.

The Übermensch symbolizes the danger of philosophy. When thought departs from existence, philosophy can destroy life. When interpretation loses love, intelligence becomes violence.

Existential ethics says that humans are not objects to be overcome. Humans are already great beings and a journey to be lived. We must not strive to become superhuman, but rather become beings who walk toward God through the tears of existence. We must not become humans who become gods, but humans who stand before God. We must not become humans who create their own value, but humans who realize the spark of divinity already within them.

Philosophy must be reborn with this confession: “I know nothing. But I live on, even today.” This single sentence comes from the deepest part of existence. It shines brighter than the definition of truth that philosophy has explored for thousands of years. Because it is not an interpretation, but a testimony of life.

Philosophy should no longer be a feast of sophisticated language. Philosophy does not exist on a desk or in front of a blackboard, where there is no pain. True philosophy is born from the eyes of a child crying in a corner of the city, from hands sharing bread even in despair, from the unmarked graves of those who died without a name.

That is where philosophy should be. That is where ethics should be. That is where truth should speak again. Existential ethics declares, “Philosophy is not language. Philosophy is existence, love, and testimony.” “Philosophy cannot be completed because humans are incomplete beings.”

Therefore, we must ask again. What makes humans human? What kind of philosophy restores humanity? What kind of language holds life? The answer lies in existence itself. Existence is not an object to be interpreted, but a life to be loved. Existence is not a logic to be proven, but a pain to be remembered and a sacredness to be embraced.

Let us no longer analyze humans. Let us not deconstruct humans. Humans are already a great philosophy in and of themselves. This is the cry of Soyo's Existence Ethics. This is a living philosophy.

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

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