Kierkegaard Essays

In Kierkegaard’s “Fear and Trembling”, we are presented with the views of Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Hegel and Kierkegaard’s pseudonym, ‘Johannes de Silentio’, in regard to the story, “The Binding of Isaac” and how Abraham’s religious beliefs made him sacrifice his son, which went against the rules of the ethical at that moment in time. We must ask ourselves, is it ever justifiable to commit an act that goes against a universal set of ethical rules in order to pursue an individual relationship

alternative guise, Johannes de Silentio, Kierkegaard concentrates on the story of Abraham in such a way that his audience must choose between two extremes. Either Abraham is insane or he is justified in saying he will kill Isaac. Is Abraham's decision to sacrifice Isaac faith or murder?

Kierkegaard was born in the early 18th Century to a wealthy family in Copenhagen and he died at the tender age of 42 in 1855. Kierkegaard’s life was rather ordinary however, it is fair to say his work is quite remarkable. Today Kierkegaard is widely known as a philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic and a prolific religious author. It is without doubt that Kierkegaard’s ‘Fear and Trembling’ is a remarkably difficult yet worthwhile and insightful to read. In ‘Fear and Trembling’ Kierkegaard discusses

existentialism music seems to span from much of the well-known literature. Existentialism is prominently seen in literature through the minds of geniuses like Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre. The Concept of Anxiety by Kierkegaard helps to explain the true definition of anxiety and why it exists. “Learning to understand anxiety is an adventure” (Kierkegaard). Anxiety is having fear for the unknown, so there is nothing truly there to fear. (www.uri.edu)The dark causes great fear but the fear is of something

together and provides them with a sanctuary to express their beliefs. There is a psychological explanation for this, that we are at a lesser stage of anxiety when we seek for belonging and acceptances from others, thus Kierkegaard argues that this leads to complacency. Kierkegaard further argues that Authentic faith is an active faith in that the movements of faith are chosen again and again, thus Active faith is for the individual in their own solitude. Inauthentic faith is inactive and complacent

one lives his or her life. There are different approaches to how to cope with the challenges of life: Albert Camus with influences of Jean Paul Sartre paints an atheist existentialist picture in The Plague, and Kelly Clark with themes of Soren Kierkegaard, in When Faith Is Not Enough, describes the Christian approach to conquering life. Together, both pieces of text, directly and indirectly address these challenges of existence. The people of Oran must find a way to persevere when their city is

selection, Kierkegaard speaks of three different types of people in three different stages of life. The aesthetic man, the ethical man, and the knight of faith. Each man, having a different meaning in life during each stage, eventually reaching the ultimate meaning of life. In the following, I will explain how each of these men fit into Kierkegaard’s argument for taking a “leap of faith”, as well as explain Why Abraham’s life is a meaningful life based off of Kierkegaard’s argument. Kierkegaard believes

To answer the question if Kierkegaard had a restricted or unrestricted view on the divine command theory I believe we need to take a close look at the divine command theory. In my opinion a great general summery of what the divine command theory is comes from the pg. 23 the first page of the chapter. The divine command theory about to be presented is what we may call an “unrestricted” view about the relation between God and morality because it proposes to explain the nature of both the right and

Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son provides Kierkegaard with a chance to introduce challenging questions regarding the nature and value of Christianity. In this paper, we will focus on an interpretation of Fear and Trembling in which Kierkegaard challenges the Christians of his era, as well as emphasizes the difficulty of religious faith. In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard stresses that Abraham's choice is morally objectionable and incoherent. Kierkegaard does not endorse a specific conviction about

between Marx and Kierkegaard – beyond disagreeing with Hegel – is they both find Hegel to be apathetic. As Kierkegaard summarized in Either/Or, and as Marx exemplifies in his many writings, either one is to resign themselves to inaction for the greater good or one commits to action regardless of the consequences. Hegel, they argue, commits himself to the former. He resigns himself to universal ethics, acting on the greater good at the expense of the individual. Here, Kierkegaard and Marx swerve away