A Peek At Kierkegaard
A brief look at Kierkegaard’s life and a few key lines from his essays.
Introduction to Kierkegaard
Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard was born in 1813 into a wealthy family. From a young age, Kierkegaard had to suffer through the death of multiple family members. This (death) had an immense impact on him and went on to become a central theme for most of his works. He died in 1855 of a spinal disease.
He is known as the Father of Existentialism as his works reflected the general ideas of Existentialism which were later taken up by philosophers like Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre and Heidegger.
He went on to write 22 books, of which Either/Or (1843), Fear and Trembling (1843) and The Sickness unto Death (1849) are the most influential.
Kierkegaard’s Philosophical Work
Death was the central theme of most of his works. He mostly wrote about anxiety, purpose, human condition, individual development, faith and absurdism. It is believed that he was influenced by philosophers like Plato, Kant and Schelling. He influenced a number of thinkers like Paul Feyerabend, Judith Butler and Victor Frankl.
Some popular Kierkegaard quotes
‘In truth, there is no place, not even one disgustingly dedicated to lust and vice, where a human being is more easily corrupted — than in the crowd’ — (Against the Crowd)
‘Faith is a miracle, and yet no human being is excluded from it.’ — (Suspending the Ethical)
‘One must know oneself before knowing anything else. It is only after a person has thus understood himself inwardly, and has thus seen his way, that life acquires peace and significance.’ — (Inwardness and Subjectivity)
‘People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought, which they seldom use.’ — (Either/Or)
‘Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.’ — ( The Concept of Anxiety)
‘As I grew up, I opened my eyes and saw the real world, and I began to laugh and I haven’t stopped since.’ — Kierkegaard’s Absurdism
Kierkegaard, through his work, wishes to make humanity realize the futility of comforting illusions and the importance of a leap of faith in God. He pointed out the flaws in the conceptions of inherently meaningful life, modern life, family, work and love. He detested the clergy and the rich aristocrats. He was against the notion of Christianity as propounded by the Danish Church. For him, God was the Christ from the Gospels, and Christianity was about surrendering completely to God (to take a leap of faith). He did not believe in the application of reason to justify God’s existence (hence the leap).
‘To have faith is to lose your mind and to win God.’ — Kierkegaard in The Sickness unto Death (1849)
Thoughts on Kierkegaard
Wittgenstein believed Kierkegaard to be the greatest thinker of the 19th century, while Heidegger only had criticisms to offer for Kierkegaard’s thoughts.
While I found a lot of his musings to be profound (particularly-his essay on crowd being the source of untruth in Against the Crowd and his emphasis on the vitality of subjectivity in Inwardness and Subjectivity), I struggled to resonate with his views on God and faith. I think that a leap of faith suggests lack of rational thought and portrays the theologian (rather than philosopher) ideology of Kierkegaard.
What do you think?
