The Core of Relationships: Ecological Coexistence and Existential Connection

We live in an age of highly advanced communication technology, where a tap of the finger can connect us to the entire world. Yet this surface convenience conceals a profound paradox: we are increasingly surrounded by endless “weak ties,” while experiencing unprecedented loneliness and alienation. Beneath the clamor of social media lies a widespread absence of deep relationships, and human connection is falling into a state of “hollowness.”

At the same time, utilitarian logic is eroding the very nature of human relationships. Social interaction is often reduced to a tool for exchanging benefits, from “giving gifts to get things done” to trading resources. Sincere encounters between people have been distorted into carefully calculated games of strategy. We seem to have forgotten that connection is something far more authentic.

In response to these modern ills, this book proposes a central idea: the essence of genuine connection lies in “entering one another’s core relational ecosystem.” This is not superficial reciprocity or expanding one’s network, but a profound ecological integration and existential bond: a philosophical practice in which two independent worlds open themselves to each other, intertwine, and grow together.

To explore this idea in depth, the book rejects shallow “success-manual rhetoric” and instead draws on deep philosophical traditions such as ontology, ethics, and communitarianism. It examines how relationships define our way of being and what ethical responsibilities we owe to others.

Following the progression “tracing origins, critique, construction, practice, and transcendence,” the book guides readers from reflecting on the present through critical analysis and, ultimately, toward practical ways of rebuilding authentic connections. This is an invitation to journey together through connection