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    Introducing Kierkegaard PDF

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    Vladimir Carlan

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    ted ey hc ih 2006 by eon Books Lis, in 2006 by Tem Books “The Ol Day, Brook Road, Ings To eon Books Ls. Tflow, Carte S68 7RG Tha Ot Day, Book oa ‘mar ioeicoreceks. co.uk Thepow, Cami ‘www neducngbocks. com SGB 7AG, UK Soldin the UK, Euepe, Sou Aten Dita tote ad nthe USA by ‘and Asia by Faberan Faver Lis, Nation! Book Network ne Queen Saute London WCIN SAU 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, cortheapents Maryland 20706 Distbute inthe UK, Europe. Sou Ditibuted in Cana by Distibuton Genre CoehesterRosd, SO Erion Avenue Ets. Suto 700, Fraing Grean, Colcesta CO7 7OW Toronto, Onto MP 2YE ‘Ths edtion publahedin AvstalaISAN-10144046-75844 in 2008 by Alen & Urwin Py Li, ISBNS: 7a Teugeer at PO Box 6900, 83 flexanser Set, ‘Crom Nest NSW 2065 ‘and Atala 2008 “ort copyraht © 2019 Dave Robinson imu capyight © 2003 Oscar Zarate ‘The author nd ast have asserted tot moral rts Ctignating eater: Read Appignanesi ‘No part of is beak may te rprodied in any form, by any mans Protea an bord 9 Singapore by Ten Wah Pre A Radical Change in Philosophy For over 2,000 yeas, philosophers had insisted that thelr primary tak was to establen what counted 28 certain and lable knowiodgo, Soren Kierkegaard violent dsagroed. The job of phlosopty wasn't tel us what we could nowt had to tellus what we should do, iar coo Wart nos wna E ‘The Fork ‘The Father ‘Soren Kierkegaard was born on 5 May 1813, the youngest chit of His old fathor was a remarkable man, He had been born in Jutland, as Michael Kierkegaard, His family nickname was “Fort because, a a chil, landless set, of an appalingly poor family he had once threatened his dinner. Lan Pmt sac He moved to Copenhagen atthe age of 24 and rapidly became one of He was a ral child who sutlered from a curvature ofthe spine, the most success merchants in Danmark By the age of 40, he was prebabiy brought about by an earlier fal rom a tree. He aco sufored fich, 89 he retired from commerce and devoied the resto his fo from mysterious fs that ltt him weak. And fer the whole of his ie he eating theology He was a very ineligent and religious man ~a great, had an aversion to sunlight FulHongth potas usually show him ‘utoddact who enjoyed discussing Christian doctrine with the various sporting an umbrella ‘churchmen he invited to his large town house, ‘The Paterfamilias The Mother ‘Michael Kierkegaard was also an authoritarian father who demanded Soreris parents were old when he was born. His "heavy minded father correct behaviour and obedience from his seven children and was was 56, and his mather Arne, 45, Hi mother had bean the fami’s caretl with his money. His religous views were a complicated mature former domeste servant, literae, and she seems to have made ile of orthodox Lutheranism, Moravian piety and an absessve spitual impression on any of ha cidren, The father ruled, and was both feared melancholy It was adark and grim Christian that stressed te inevitably of sin, punishment and suring, Soran had to learn a lengthy catechism and rect itt his father every day ‘nd admired by al his chiéren, especially Soren Feast! ‘The Doomed Family But out ofthe seven Kirkegaard chidren, only two survived. The young family and their mother were gradualy obiterated by accents, dcosss land complications of childbirth. Only Soren and his bother Petr Temained. And ther father thought he knew why "The Great Earthquake? ‘happened in 1835 when the old man told the tut a last Soren was 20 The Curse of God God had rewarded Michae! Kierkegaard with material prosperity, but was progressively punishing him by finishing off his chile, al of whom \would die before thay reached the age of 34, (Lke Christ cructied al 33.) wy? ‘The Prophecy Relief He also confessed to pre-marital sexual relations wit his second wie, Both toys seemed to have accepted their father’s deranged explanation ‘le sho was stil a servant, which probably didn't please God much the family's misfortune, They immediately bocame convinced that tether But itwas his angry childhood tkasphemy that ha one for they would bot de young. So 12 years later, Soren was very pleasantly ‘hor al surprised to find hime sti alve. oe ee ee ‘Student Life Soren became a student atthe University of Copenhagen, studying theology and philosophy to bacome a pastor ofthe Luheran church But, perhaps because of doubis abou his longevity, he gave up his ‘studs halfvay through. He moved out of his fathers house ved the le of a scandalous aesthote and devoted himeell oa ite of pleasure ‘and amusement, which his father (surprisingly) seams to have funded. ‘The Holy Alliance He soon discovered tho joys of reading literature, as opposed to theclogy ‘and became sn opera enthusiast. He earoused with several good renga \who called themselves "Tho Holy Alianes™. They discussed pilosophy, ‘is and te opera, and Saren pretended to be mare dissoluta and ‘Outrageous than he actually wes. By this ime, he was developing more objective reservations about his fathers extreme religious views, and even tentorained serious doubte about hie own Christan faith And lke most philosophy students then and now, he was worried about what to do with isle. Patosopny set certainly didnt seam to have the answers, Futility Reconciliation ‘The young Soren was a naturally serious indidual, not realy cut out for Fortunately in May 138, when he was 25, he seems to have had th ie of a dissolute rake, evan ithe id bis bast. He ran up ils wth soma kind of mystical experience that rekindled hia religous enthusiasm bockseles,tobacconists and restaurants. He got drunk wth his flow “There isan indescribable oy which blazas in me." He became roconcied students and maybe even had a sexual experience or two. Bu the ie ot with Ns now aling father but, three months late, the old man chad. Ths pleasure soon came to seem forced and tule, He sank into a deep, fected Soren deeply alos suicidal despair at his lack of drecton, an felt completely remote om the ives of hie rand, who ll found him wonderuly wit, ifrather alot. Inhis mind, returning o his father and God were move or les the same thing. He came to beleve tat his ater nad saciced himself so that fis son could continue to proach Goss message ta the world, Father and Son eckegeard undoubtedy had come kind of complicated “athe fixation’. He projected the personalty of his own very odd and stem fathar onto, that ofthe authortarian God he wrote about for he resto his Me Lies "i Testy ee oe His religious trame of mind was equaly obsessive, melanche ulti. ‘The Irony of Socrates In 1840, after many years of interrupted study, Kierkegaard finally completed his degree in theology and was looking forward to becoming the pastor ofa small country parish. He wrote a student thesis, “On the Concept o! rong, ith Special Reference to Socrates". In this essay he pralses Socratos or his attacks on conventional ideas and accepied twadoms, and his impressive ironic detachment. Socvates mocks all those who are fossilized inthe limited social conditions Tas aneace & Cc TEN “Everything was perfect and complete and didnot alow any sensible Jenging to romain unsatistied. Everything was timed othe rinute: You Jallin ove wien you reached your 20th year, you went 1 bed atten ‘obiock. You marred, you Ived in domastety and maintained your sition in the State. You had chien” Regine Olsen '8y now Kierkegaard was n ove with 18-year-old Regine Olzen. She \was both pretty and intelignt, and he had admired ar for seme te. ln September 1840, he proposed to her and was accepted. ‘formal engagement of one year was agreed upen. So Kierkegaard \was well on the way to becoming a highly respectable member of Copentiagen society, as his father would have wished ADreadful Mistake Bt the day after the engagement was announced, he knew he had mado a deadiul mistako. He suspected that Regine had accepted him Cut of pity. Doubts and anxieties flooded into his mind. He wae not husband material. is habit of deep thought and reflection made him "a lover with a wooden leg. “Inward | saw that had made a mistake. | should have to inate her into things most torrble, my relabonship wth Father, bis melancholy the ‘ternal darkness which broods in my innermost part, my excursions into Ist and debauchery. The voice of hidgement said, “Give her up The Broken Engagement ‘Kerkogaard panicked, broke the “very intellectual relationship” between them and returned Ragine's ing in the following August of 1841 ‘womert $0 Mat people would thnk R was Regine ang nate who hac breken off he engagement. Copenhagen was a smal gossioy provincial ety ard would not elet. "So let us suppose | had married her ‘About me there is something rather host, which accounts forthe fact that no one can put up with me. 1 was engaged to her fora Year, and sll she cid not relly know me. | was to0 heavy for he, and ‘She was foo ight forme” ‘Strange Deceiver FRogine finally ave hin up and eventualy became engaged othe rather more reliable Johan Fredark Schiegel, an eatler admirer, She remained puzzled and confused about the whole afar Escape to Berlin ierkegaard escaped trom the Gopennagen gossip and a pubic scandal. “journeyed to Bern. | sured a great dea. was 0 profoundly shaken that | understood perfectly wel that could not possibly succeed in taking the comfortabe and secure midale way in which mest people pass their Ives. But was she who made me a poot” Finding a Way The Lectures In Borin, he atonded lectures by the Fomantc pitosopher Friedrich Seholing lo Schelling (17751854), Asa datormined bachelor, he Spent he rest ot hse praising tho institsion of mariage ~ fom a distance. gine became fictionalized in his ming as akin of inaccaseble muse, The whole sorry episode helped to make him into one ofthe most emarkabe wrers and philosophers ofthe 19th century. He had made up his mind ‘what foo with his fo, at as. es on he German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) wore also attended by other extraordinary radicals, among them the young Karl Marx (1818-83) The philosophy of Hegel was a powerulintuence on all Eurepean intellectual eat that tine. = \\\ STAN What was Hege's philosophy and why was itso influential? ‘The Hegelian Dialectic Hegel believed that Reason’ isthe bast method af finding out the truth ‘But getting there was a complcsted process. When you employ reason to investigate the word and ts human inhabiants, you frequenty end ‘up with conclusions that seem uterly opposed Nevertheless, th process of slalectic mediation gets repeated through Dut history, so that in the end, human reason shows be able to progress ftom lower lovels ct awareness unt it reachad the absobit tuth about This syethesis cancels out the superical confit between contradictions leyerying — human history, soset, psychology, poliics and religion. It preserves tho clement of ruth in both and 20 helps advance tho inevitable Jas an evolutionary account of human knowledge and potonal that progress of human rational thought towards tha “Absolute Truth _ppealed to many theciogians, and even more to phlosephers, Objects and Thoughts Hegelian dalactis is alogc of “ontology” (what i eal) and idealist metaphysics (what “really rea). also dissolves the usually rathor ‘obvious distinctions that mest people make between real obocts inthe world and human thought Hegel argued that we need both mental concepts to categorize and ‘explain the world of things as they appear to us, and things to give us ‘somathng to think about. This means that"realty' must consist of both ‘houghts and objects. so the words ene and "rea take on rather odd alkinclusive meanings in Hegelian jargon. Individuals and Communities ut itwas Hegets views on society and the individual that most exorlsod FletaganrdHogl was prose by ow modem Bvconiy cv ‘Society had progressed. The more secely advancad, ho grosor was Sreryoncs understanding and acceptance ol ndidual ight and ffoodoms, But sity had tobe mor than just a colton ot nduals tngagedincommercal deaings wth each oor. The Sore Kierkegaard’s Criticism of Hegel the Stat, ‘The Future and the Past Humanity Is Not an Idea Truth and Commitment For Kirkegaard, dscoveing the "rut Is not just about finding out how lors in lays and novels are aeady provided wih @ ‘things are. Its more a matter of making a commitment and taking specific “character” or “essence” that determines theit destiny. With real people, ' kinds of action. Phiosopy has to be mare than jt a calm searen for the opposites true, tis their chosen actions that cumulatively determine objective truth, their character over me. In adler to ive and not almlesely deft through ite, Yyou have to choose a spectic"sphere of exstonco"~ and that is always a {amble. It often requires mmediale decisions and impies a commiment fo actin certain kinds of ways inthe future. Ling isnot an activ that can be "mediated by some engong dialect Individual human beings constanty find themselves ina state of parad” (a crisis that noeds tobe resolved) and hope to find "truth? (a resolution ofthe crisis, after making a commiment io @ particular Soltis not possible to wat unt afterwards and subject ito analysis kind of action) and synthesis e.thie rear? ‘The Outsider aces td oes vs caer sce hares acon Pood Wiha < ra ected Crom Rah oe oa See eee eee SS ees ee od But Kierkegaarcscrtcisms are sometimes of the mark. Hegel openly ‘cited the inadequacies of his own philosophy, How coud i possibly tell each inividual how to lve a particular ite? Kierkogaards own Philosophy can sound dangerously “Hegelian” with is tak of stages" ‘anc the attractions ofthe “univerea”. Sut the philosophies of Hegel and ‘Werkegaard soem wholly incommensurate, Kerkegaard’s work en ‘ant-philosophy” tat reects vitally the Whole canon of Western Philosophy with ts emphasis on whats unvereal and objective, and on Wat can or cannot be known. Kirkegaard is playing a wholly diferent “language game" to Hogel. This makes it very cific for anyooe to ‘analyze or ciicize one inthe terms employed by te other —————— oe ee ‘The Writer's Existence ‘ierkegaard had choson nis own rather diferent way of te, He had made up his mind about his fur a last 1 uwoerst009 resect Tat 1 COULD His father had lft him a substantia legacy, which meant that he could become a ul-ime writer. His st real book Ether/Or was putished ppeeudonymously on 20 Februaty 1849 and immediatly Bacame 8 Iterary sonatin, Either/or This book isa very odd mature of puzzing prefaces, torewors, interludes, postscrips, appendices, letters, poms and diaries. There is. no one declared “author of the book but several tis a wildly exuberant tox, ful ioaly contrasting ideas abou relationships, religion marriage, seduction, metaphysies and art. Publishing under numerous pseudonyms became a abt for Kierkogaara, done party to avoid yet ‘more scandal, But he also wanted to create an “indirect” series of farratives told by dfrent voles wit diferent ives and opposed ‘moral valves Tie wowous. ve EQUAL GAT Against Consensus The Reader's Choice ‘By wearing a series of tional “masks”, Kierkegaard could also speak DDeciging upon which indviual characters to admire and condemn is a ‘ut more clearly and dramatically, and lat each cheracter be whol ‘more engaging exercise than aritating between abstract ideas. Some Consistent in is views. What puzzled Kirkogaard’s Danish readors was eaders enoy his disorientation process and the space itloaves for ‘he lack ofan overriding “authrial volcan the book, one tha aly thair own thoughts and opinions. Others like tobe told what to think, But steers the reader towards some sort of moral consensus, the choice remains resolutely etheror, not both/and, because this fs what eis ike Too oerenume> You emer ou or Trees Kierkegaard hoped that his bok would help Regine to “push her boat ‘The lives of his charactors are extreme, so there is no possibilty ofa from the shore". But he never forgot her and regretted never having a Hegelian synthesis or reassuring “mice ground’. Tat’ why the book ‘Second chance to marry het. He wrote about her, incest, forthe rest has its eccentic tile EieriOr~ because "Both-And” i the way fo hel ‘this il, and finally left her everything i his wl The Aesthete EitherOris edited by “Victor Eromte’, a detached spectator of the world around him and a shrewd observer of his flow human beings. He introduces us to a whole series of articles by "Aestheto A about ‘Mozart opera. Don Giovanni modern and ancient raged. hee fctonal "betrayed women’, aroviw ofa comic play a svange essay on *How to Deteal Boredom” and the extraordinary “Diary ofa Sedueor™ writen by someone called "Johannes" Ermen/On ee eee ee ee Don Juan ‘One ofthe main themes of the bookis seduction. Don Juan — oF Giovanni in Mozart's opera ~ i a spontaneous seduce of hundrods of women and has a "demonic zest frie". H has no moral principles and {shilrent to the suffering he causes to neaty everyone he encoun tors. He eluses to rellect on what he does, because, the di he would hhave te choose — to repent or cary on, bul thereateras a consciously Lnprincpled womanizor Fis cmacren Ths rower, “Diary of a Seducer” Johannes the Seduce is @ more dubious character because he is Tallctve. He's well educated, intaligant and wholly aware that he has “a philosophy of is". refuse tobe bored and wl devote mysalf solely to sensual pleasures:He too is an outsider, which means he is not an Lnthinking “pilistine” Hei, however. 8 calculating rake who takes pleasure Inthe chase rather than the end result His“Diary” ols Us in {eat detail how he secrety investigates the weaknesses of his intended vet "Corde, We need no ring to remind us that we belong to one another. We drive Inte the sky trough the clouds the wind whistles around us Ifyou are ide, my Cordelia, hes me cose" His postc outpourings convince her and gether tothe point where she Virualy "seduces" hors He stoops with her and then immediately abandons her. He tres to persuade us of his good intentions. r lnwe Conoean ev He claims 1 be an honourable” man, because he never promised to marry anyone, and never told les. He appears tobe se-doceived, not ‘nly alienated from the word and those around him, but also trom im Disillusionment ‘The Aesthete is extremely funny onthe subject of boredom”. But because, unlike the vigorous Don Juan, he isa vflectve intellectual, he is horiieg by the egotistical nastinoss of Johannes and able fo examine what ‘means to lve according to tis se-centrod word-vew. He tery rejects the conventons of society thet would foros him into adil mariage and ‘onerous social conformity. But he is also very aware of the vary ofthe temporal wold the source of allot hi immeciate art vod pleasures Escape from Life Very quickly, his way of life becomes more of an escape than a search, He drives out feeling of boredom and despair with short ‘erm pleasures punctuated by long periods of lethargy and eyical pessimism. ets ‘So what is he to do? Rejoin he hordes of uneflacting phistines? Judge Witheim In part two et Either’, sudge Wihelm appears with a vision of another “sphere of existence’ forthe despairing aesthete Alife devotod merely to pleasure s doomed. Eventually the young man wil un out cf new sensations and his wealth and talents wil fade away. Judge Wiheim points out that A wil always be unhappy because he il be fever trapped in reminiscing about past pleasures or hoping for ‘Warr you Marriage and Commitment ‘And that is when the “therapy” begins. The Judge says itis wrong to think of romantic love and social dts as inevitably opposed. There is ‘much more oan ethical fe than rote obedience to society's laws. In vo Fetiors to the young man, he argues thet, although human beings ere trapped in ime, they can choose to develop and change. Marriage brings with ita cammimant tothe fature and changes one's ‘conception of the eternal. This makes ian escape from the "mmediat" as wel as converting two Inivguals nto active members ofa stable community Choose Despair “Then the Judge gives the young man some rather odd advice. He tls him to “choose despair. By this, he means that aife devoted to disguising and escaping despars tule. By choosing despa, the young man can face Up to what causes his fealings of melancholy recognize Ne gui, repent ve by ie superior catagories of good and eu, and realize tat lie is more than just a game. You va oie Saananinr” Judge Wiel also reassures im tha! the ethical fe does not preclude {an enjoyment of beauty and the good things in ie ~ ts just that they ‘are no longer the sole reason for living, Ethics, the Individual and the Eternal “The good judge algo insists tha thee is more tothe ethical ie than “erowd morality’. “Each individual must ve le by cheosing a st of ‘moral principles and finding a pace inthe sccal order" On ovcasion, trical individuals may tnd amsives in conic! with the socal pores thelr community, but normaly te ethical fe brings contentment, Decause it gives moaning to the Ives of those who choose it Reanc ure Ties ure Neverne “The ethical individual gains an overviow off, a grater sense of sey and changes his conception of tim. Life no longer merely a series ot Siratoges to escape boredom and deopar, but eomothing elated to tho ‘ternal. Who is Judge Withelm? sludge Withelm is, frankly abit of@ bore, especially afar the dubious this of Johannes the Seducer. Detaled accounts of sexual depravily ‘are more fun to read about than ethical sermens.t dossn't help that \Wihelm is a very orthodox Protestant Lutheran, shares many of Mc ierkegaards opinions and, as his Christian name would suggest, has ‘some rather Hegelian views, He wn Tris onay The Judge's views on marred lie aro also exceptional rosy Kirkagaard seems to havo boon party fantasizing here about te ie he might have had with Regine The Religious Life Rather disturbingly, Ether ends not with some nl words of advice from the wise Judge, bu with a religious sermon from a simple country DL es o¢ Gon, we ABE Human beings are wif, gnorent creatures rapped in time, and Judge \Witetn's ethical te may be only a stepping stone to someting higher and more mysterious. Stages and Leaps ieskegear returned to the notion of Stages” or “Spheres of Existence ‘many times. Everyone is eventualy faced with alternative ways of Io — "ke bachelothood or marriage. And each individual has to choose one 2 the other, because itis nat possible to have the best of both Loate we) Nostage"is more “atonal” than any other, £0 inthe end every individual's choice Is always “logical. Everyone has to make a dramatic leap" to. ‘nother stage - usually Because they are forced todo so by overwhelming Psychological feoings of inadequacy and despair ‘The Religious Stage This kind of sk is especialy tru ofthe way of ite that Kirkegaard aspired 1 - the religious world-view The moder and deeply ascetic plosopher Ludwig Witigenstein (1885-1951) agreed. Religion @ erm of ie" in which tha concopts and practices contained make sense onl rom si, No one cantly describe it ox you. Books, Books, Books... ‘The Swelling Mind ‘Atter the success of EitherOr, Kierkegaard produced a series of Kerkegaards edraorinanly prolife output can be party explained by seudonymous books ata phenomenal ate: though by Ps ime, moet his betat that he was condemned ose young. An equaly comvining ®t Copenhagen’ inteligentsiaknew wellenough who had wate them, explanation for his incessant producton line is thet he was an obsessive thinker, determined to pubisn his ideas about virtualy everything — phlosophy, art, theclogy, human existence, and, pertaps most importantly ‘fal, what it actually means fo "become a Christian’ an extraordinary record for someone whe was physicaly rather fra, The net wom 00 om He aio produced more orhodx sgned works on reigeus themes ten pubiced smitanoousiy wah he more chalonang wo lean pouting Dacre (1843-4), Thee Dcoucs on mages eens (188), Upulng Dscerse Varo Spee nian Discourses (184), Tho Li ofthe Pl, Te Br the (104) The Imagined Future FRopettion develops an idea taken trom th earlier Either. tis impossible to classty ether as philosophy or psychology but isa complicated mixture bot. Its tional author is Constantin Constantius, a shrewd intellectual ‘ho tls us all about a young man in love. A day or two afer ho gets ‘engaged, an oxd thought sirkes him. He imagines his futur, not aa ‘happily mariod young husband but as a disilsioned old man, sunk in an armchair, remembering the lve o his youth Te ore Loves ne “She had made him a poet, and in 0 doing, she had signed her own death warrant." Indecision ‘The indocisive young post breaks of the engagement. Constantius advises him o pretend to have a mistress. His outraged fiancée wil go ‘along with his plans —by rejecting him, He doesn’ have the nerve to. {0 that far, but, afew days later, wonders he has made the wrong ‘decision ater al, and becomes an unhappy rememberer of “what might have been’, ‘But then he reads inthe paper that she has married someone els, ‘20 repaiene not possible, He commits suicide. Wall, he doos inthe first version. By this time, Kirkegaard knew of Regine engagement ‘another man, gone changed the ending. The young man now Celebrates his independence as a witer. “Being Present to Oneself” ‘Repottion's a curious ale of seltimposed misery, party autabiographical ‘and paty therapeutic. Butt does explore further the idea ol he sot ‘deceived inavual wh crits through ie dreaming ofan imaginary past and futur. It easy tobe nostalgic and belive that hings wore always bitin the Bast. Oro hope that the future willbe beter than now. Both are common ‘Strategies that people use to avoid boing “present fo themnsevess They (2nd up indecisive, in a constant stato of unspectic melancholy and rere Repetition Is in the Present ‘S0"repeition” can be a good thing If it means a second chance to choose something you repent having lost. Repetition also reinorces the idea tat ts best to Wve n te present. not in some imaginary elseuhere. e's ono way o esing yours for HOPE—~ PAST—> PRESENT HOPE=—RECOLLECTION— REPETITION Se ee eo What is Existence? Wrkegaard insisted that philosophical concepts and individual human ‘Kierkogaard claims tha, unt he finally decides what todo, the young ‘bongs “exit in wholly diforent ways. The living, striving suttering sot Bost does not realy exist What does he mean? Clery theres mee determines one's existence nt sme remote abstract 90 tats are {o “existence” than just breathing, eating and thinking The French ‘oni ofits thous, [hlosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) wae convinced he ha proved ‘hat every thinking ncvidual has to exist (think therfore tam), has 1 ‘Korkegaar’s point isa faiy elementary one. Concopts and reason can ‘only ever tll us about the possibiles of existence, not about its actuaty ‘Armathematcian can happly use reason and concepts to tell us all about the porsbie areas and creumferances of a creular pond inthe park: What he cant dois use reason to tell us whether or not such a pond actually Na Guide 06 castes Dread, Despair and Guilt “This feoom to choose who you are, as well as what you do, sounds supertiilly rather attractive Bu once you have made your decision, ‘only you can be held responsible ort. things go horribly wrong “Baietence"is much more than jst something you are bom with. is ‘Something you nave to strive for, usually by distinguishing yourself rom “ie crower, which may be biological alive but doesnt “est” This means that Kierkegaard individuals are oftanasocial, or even ant soca, Gotngs, lat ods wit those who surround them. Only by recogrizing thelr tue situation knowing they are tree to choose and consequently responsible fortheir choices ~ do they rly “exit (or as later “existentialist” ‘Phiosophers would say do they become “authentic, “The choice ofa way o life can be made ony by the parson wo has to lve i= which is what Kirkegaard means by his puzaing and famous phrase: “Truth is Subjectivity ‘The Eccentric Dan ‘ierkogaars himsaif had chosen a rather eccentric way o ite. His days Were remarkably uneventful. He rarely left Copenhagen: his wile ig was one of wring, attencing the theatre and taking bri jourmays mo the surrounding countryside. rings aren one way oF another, deeply concerned urpisegly, he dieagreed voto, ‘wih Hagel analysis of gion and religious bee. Wich takes us to his ‘most important philosophical preoccupation the relationship between rebgious faith and reason a subject he wrote about extersvely but again, ‘psoudonymousty, i his more ‘philosophical works, He greaty enjoyed walking the stoets of ho ciy, hunched figure in back, carrying his umbrela talking 1 ordinary people, whose conversation he valued highly. Like most good Danes, he attended the State Lutheran ‘church regulary, and now thought of hse as a“eligious post Beliefs and Uncertainty AFaith Based on Reason? For belie tobe “rational”, some kind of proof oF vai argument is Usually presupposed. Abell based on fat, however, has more to do Everyone has bois, trom the everyday to the ralgious. Most of our betes are based on habit, some.on reason and evidence, and rather ft on faith, ‘with personal commitment, and usually appeals to some kindof transcendent authorty Tesune Ker wore, ‘Some philosophers and theologians suggest that reason and fait Together can form sola foundation for religious belle, Others nist hat ; the two are innerent incompatble. eet ee et Natural Theology | rs 3 and tah was, essential Hegers approach this confit between reason and tt) y tnd yplcaly, to dsohe tor Hegel God ie nota venacendent bing, but “inmarent~ part of al human begs andthe spt selves, ndood ‘Those “apologetic” theclogans who Insist that reason and ath can be ‘econcled are sometimes called “natural theologians” of compatibles” ‘They ften argue that God's existence can be proved with reason “Natural Theology” goes back atleast as tar as Pato (427-847 BC) and aritotle (84-822 80), who both appealed to transcendent entities ike “The Gosd and "The Unmoved Mover" “eos Sr An (1033-1108) Sr Troms ats (1225-78) Rational philosophers ~ Descartes, Gottried Wilhelm Lelbniz (1646-1716) and others — alco provided more elaborate versions of CCivst is no more than an allgorcal able which tells us that cvine such "proofs \ ‘and human natures are not acealy oF nnecalydifront, The mystery of the Incarnation — God becoming human inthe form of Religion and Philosophy Foligon merely hint through myths and symbols at fundamental ‘ruts, truths that philosophy ultimately reveals more clr Religion is Imaginative and figurative; philosophy i rational and conceptual Sore theologians welcomed Haga’ “apologetic explanation o the relevance land value of religion and agreed that was a positive lore fot good, ores Incompatibitists (One obvious problem for “ompaibilists"is that Chrisbaniy’ doctines ‘Seem utter bayond ratonaljtifieation ~ God created the word rom ‘nothing; He is both one and tree persons: and, 28 an infinite being, He took on a bret historical and ite existence In human form. Caver theologians can try to explain away these paradoxes. Buta more radical way of deaing with them iso celebrate tei very abeurdy. tera Ged existence could be proved, and Chritian doctrine made logically demonstrable, then there would be no real need forfeit nthe fst place. Te Texrucsian (55-225 Ab) Nogative Theology Te Fancicanphicsopers Jot Duns Scotus 1266-1908 an Wiliam ot Ocknam (265°130) woe cao al piosopel atompsto prove Go evtnce Pascal's Wager French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-62) ‘agreed that reason alone could rot settle any mater of religous belie He proposed a famous “wager. Bei! in Godis a better bet, because i! you are wrong, the consequences are unknown te you; you ar right heaven awa The Ultimate Incompatibilist iorkegaard read and admired Tertullian, Luther and Pascal, as wel as ‘other, more contemporary theologians Ike Friedrich Schlelermacher (1766-1834), who argued tat religion was ts own “sphere of exstonce” \which had nothing to do with reason, And Kierkegaard is himeol probably ‘the most radical and uncompromising incompatblist of al ine, Te Nor TO UNCED imsrtry Sut To ‘lerkegaard frequent insisted that his philoscphy was ali losophy was always centied (on one deceptively simple question, What iio become a chistan?* State Christianity For mest people, becoming a Christan is mostly a matter of being born to Christian parents, observing certain religious rtuals and geting warm {ealings of solidarity and worthiness from church atfendance. This was ‘especkally tue of the Protestant Lutheran churchgoers in Denmark, ‘who, as Danish ctzens, were aso required to be members ofthe State Church “Thus it was estabshed by the State as a kind of eternal principle that ‘every child is naturally born a Christian. The Stato delivers goneration after ganeration, an assoriment of Chistian, each ‘manufacturer’ trademark ofthe Stat, with perfect accuracy, one Christian exact the al the others with the greatest possible unermity (of factory product” Rational Christendom ‘erkogard attacked what he ced "Chistondon”. This eed the majo of churchgoers ina secular and scietfc age who deckrea hat Cristy was atonal an serie raion, based on we cosine, eget had proven wero the logical conseqrencee o Wears Philosophical thought. a But. forKierkoguard, becoming @ Chitien was @ mysterious and ‘gonizing process. No one really know what ‘True Christians orkegaard's Chistianty is vary diferent o this “Sunday Crisanty: Every Chistian is by defnton an individual ~ so membership of some particular eigious insttution means very ite. A true Cristian is rarely happy or complacent. Kierkogaare’s Chistanty was ike tha of his {athor~ aroligon of gull, anxiety and suring. Cristianity had to be a ‘etal way of fe, which meant that twas impossibo to be bot a rue ‘Grvsian and a successful member of society, So absolute ware ts demands that the rue Christian must necessarily be an ‘outsider ee ee en ae Demonstrating Existence “Atempts to prove Gods enstonce are an excelent subject fra comedy fhe highest lunacy” Kirkogaard makes the point time and again that 's mpossite ever to prove that anything exits, Wen Descinte as 1 nae He toy Sr ar cuue aurcoo mene Rehr OF PERFCTIN, “The entire deronstation always becomes an additonal development ‘of the consequences that fw trom my having assumed thatthe abject ‘n question already exists. Thus! alias reason trom existence, not toward existence. donot, for example, prove that a stone exits, Dut that some aready existing thing sa stone” The Ontological Argument Workegaards critciam ofthe “ontological” arguments that you cannot drag the existence of anything out of defnions or some ingenious logic However hard you try, Gods exsterce cannot be proved tke some kind cf mathomatical theorem. This especially tre for we frit beings whose intolects are exceedingly limited How caw The Reasoning lrrationalist Hans Lassen Martensen Acs that ic otn made about Kierkegaard that he clams to ‘ne Danish theologian who protessed Hegelian views was Hans Lassen despise philosophical method, i cmissive of reason, and yet uses both Martenson (1808-84), He was a major figure in Copenhagen society. a bilan in is attack on orthodox Cristian ‘roo for Gods existence, frequent visor tothe Kirkagaard housahol anda reasonetltlorant But Kierkegaard noer say that being a Chistian ae using toason are tnd teal cleric who ted fo moderate some of Miho! incompatie,just that reason cannel make You ioe befeve And ike more pessimist vows about his vengel God Hegel, Kierkegaard rather colabrated the fac tha it was ¢ constant tral frational thought to tow up imeconclable paradoxes. The mawen But, untke Hegel, he never thought raigious paradoxes could be Bolieving in Christianity means accepting fundamentally absurd ‘mediated. octrines, especialy those that define is founder. Klerkegaard’s Christ ‘Korkegaard argued both thatthe cbjact of Christian faith is nherenty radonical and thatthe act of Christan fat is tsolt absurd. There ic Profound tationalty ai the heart of Chistian that philesophy can ‘never ‘absorb. The Incarnation of Christ — th Fistorcal and lke ‘zstence of anitite dally inhuman form is uteryseltcontracictry, "tis logically impossible forthe temporal” andthe “eloral fo co-once, ‘The Transcendent God 1 Kierkogaad, we are al iu and fe temporal beings whose “vreancig wot ted cert) ttn hat ‘wo can over have a God perspecve, outside of spaco and time, the height of fo, Noone, net even Hegel can each vaniage por of “pure thought “talon as anyone evil ms esseraly an ning nc voce sont aa eto cncontate spon iaranss mesg wre Soa ‘Sint anc tral ‘And God is a ranscendent being, totaly removed fom the materia) ‘worl, how can Christ's existence on earth be explained? Objective and Subjective Truth kiorkagaard also challenged the long-held philosophical view about tnth. The traditional phiosophical conception of inowladge is one that downgrades individual tuths, Insists on going beyond a private peint ot view and looks at things dispassionately and dsinterestedy Kierkegaard despised this exclusive definition of ruth Everyone is amare ofthe fact that some emotional truths are subjective, Hove my cat, but that's nota tut | expect anyone else to share. The Inctterence of others doesnt mean tient true — for me. “The same is true forthe individual who has to make He-changing decisions that seem "rus" for him or her. Very often these decisions have tobe mage fata particuar moment, rapidly, in particular etuations. Thar isnt a ruo or ‘guidebook otal you what is "rue fr you". Kierkegaard requonty makes {his pont in exaggerated aphorisms ks this Wal “Our age is essentialy one of understanding and reflection, without passion Nowadays, not even a suicide ils himself in desperation. Before faking the step he delverates so long and so carefully that he Mealy ‘chokes wit thought. He does not co with deliberation, but from

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