Self-Affirmation as Moral Ground - The Ontological Basis for Minimal Existential Pursuit

This paper presents a novel, self-justifying secular solution to Hume's Is-Ought Gap, fundamentally rejecting the presupposition that the two domains are immutable. The doctrine of the Right to Minimal Existential Pursuit transcends this gap not by deriving a moral value, but by internalizing the normative requirement ought as a logical necessity of the subject’s existential act is. Crucially, the paper refines the is -premise: existence is not defined by inherent meaning, but by the continuous, reflexive act of ontological self-reaffirmation. The ought is subsequently derived as the Imperative of Non-Contradiction—the logical requirement to maintain the integrity of one’s own existence by recognizing the universal right to self-affirmation. The system demonstrates that violating the ought (e.g., through violence) results in ontological self-impoverishment (an existential deficit) for the aggressor, proving the normative constraint is an internal logical firewall protecting the is from self-destruction. This framework establishes a rigorous, reason-based foundation for universal ethics.