Judgment Philosophy

Who I Am

This section is not a biography but the contour of my thought process (if interested, you can see my brief bio here). Instead, it reflects the lens through which I perceive the world: the operating system behind every analysis and judgment you will find on this website.

I start from a simple, unshakable belief: “phenomena are modes of essence, and every possibility originates from reason,” as remarked in my book (52). Understanding comes from capturing the underlying structure, i.e., the paradigm. Like an architect who sees the load-bearing walls and foundations beneath the facade or a physician who diagnoses the root cause of a disease rather than just treating its symptoms, I search for the fundamental ‘why’ behind any event. Data and narratives may function as points of entry, but not final destinations.

To uncover this why, I strive to break the artificial walls between academic disciplines or professional fields. A problem in finance might have its roots in ideology, and a societal trend could be best explained by a quantitative model. By integrating normative reasoning―the world of ought to be―with empirical analysis―the world of as is―I seek to assemble a more robust, holistic picture of reality. This approach is modular; I select the right tool for the job, not the most familiar one, which has stemmed from my first Freshman Studies class on Galileo, “Believe what you see, not vice versa.” This is one of few valuable lessons I learned from 100-week college classes.

The purpose of this section is to make records so that I can later track what I thought at specific moment and to share my foundational code, which I believe to be helpful to better understand the logic behind my work—whether it is a market call, policy analysis, or philosophical inquiry.

• Diary: An archive of personal journals in Korean, maintained for a small group of long-time subscribers. Access is restricted.
  
  

• Passing Thoughts: Brief judgment calls; written mostly in Korean to fully capture subtle implications, nuances, or connotations inherent in abstract concepts. For example:

  • justice vs. righteousness ~ 정의(正義); díkē; aequitas vs. 공의(公義); dikaiosynē; iustitia
  • the people vs. nationals vs. citizens ~ 인민(人民); anthrōpoi¹ vs. 국민(國民); dēmos vs. 시민(市民); politēs

Noteworthy thoughts, given that my curiosity is piqued enough, will be developed into formal essays in the V. Works section.