PHIL304: Existentialism

2a. Identify key developments in Kierkegaard's philosophical thinking

• Why do many consider Kierkegaard the first modern existentialist?
• In what ways does Kierkegaard's biography form his philosophical thinking?

Many consider Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), the Danish philosopher, theologian, critic, and poet, the first modern existentialist. This is because he was one of the first to emphasize individual existence as a process of becoming and to discuss at length his understanding of key existential topics involving authenticity, responsibility, anxiety, and dread. Throughout his life, Kierkegaard endured much adversity and heartbreak, and he used these emotional experiences to support his belief that rationality cannot provide us with the means to comprehend suffering. Furthermore, as a religious existentialist, Kierkegaard invited readers to move from the aesthetic life to the religious life. To live an aesthetic life means living inauthentically, devoid of commitment to meaning, and being superficial. To Kierkegaard, living a religious life meant being authentically Christian even around others who were not.
 
To review, see Søren Kierkegaard, The Crisis of Religion, and Kierkegaard, Sartre, Heidegger, and Jaspers.
 

2b. Summarize Kierkegaard's version of religious existentialism in relation to Pascal's

• How did Kierkegaard's personal experiences with Christianity inform his religious existentialism?
• What are the key factors involved with the crisis within Christianity, according to Kierkegaard?
• How do Kierkegaard's and Pascal's visions differ regarding religious existential theory?

Kierkegaard had a rough childhood, which followed him into adulthood. It led him to make many personal choices based on the belief that he was spiritually cursed. It also made him think about his faith, spirituality, and the whole of Christendom. He believed that Christianity in Denmark had become fake, abstract, and shallow, so he tried to help people reaffirm their faith by focusing on the actual, subjective living experience of that faith.
 
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), a French mathematician and philosopher, believed that people had the right to choose whether or not they rationally believed in a higher power, whereas Kierkegaard believed that reason was misguided because it is incapable of assisting us with understanding the absurd.
 
To review, see Pascal's Wager and The Sickness unto Death.
 

2c. Summarize Kierkegaard's analysis of faith

• What is the central problem in Kierkegaard's book Fear and Trembling?
• How does Kierkegaard justify Abraham's behavior?
• What, according to Kierkegaard, makes Abraham a knight of faith?
• What is the leap of faith?

In his book Fear and Trembling (1843), Kierkegaard wrote about the incomprehensibility of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac. He believes that there is no objective characteristic in our lives that can determine whether Abraham (the Father of Faith) is a murderer or a servant of God. Abraham is a knight of faith rather than a knight of infinite resignation or a tragic hero since he obeyed God's commands and believed Isaac would return to him. The knight of infinite resignation would not have this hope. The tragic hero makes sacrifices in service of societal norms.
 
Abraham's sacrifice is not a complete abandonment of ethics but rather a teleological suspension of the ethical – sacrificing Isaac was his duty. Kirkegaard's concept of the leap of faith was a movement against reason itself, a movement that also placed Abraham outside of the ethical.
 
To review, see More on Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, and The Knight of Faith.
 

2d. Define Kierkegaard's notion of despair

• What is the sickness unto death?
• What are the three forms of despair?
• How does Kierkegaard define the aesthetic, ethical, and religious?

Despair is the sickness unto death (the title of Kirkegaard's 1849 book) and is inherent to the human condition. Despair comes from an "imbalance" or problem within the self, and the only way to fix it is to have a relationship with God.
 
The three forms of despair are:

1. being unaware of being in despair;
2. being aware of being in despair but believing you cannot do anything about it; and
3. defiantly rejecting the concept itself.

People should work through the three types of despair to develop themselves as authentic individuals in a relationship with God.
 
Kierkegaard says that people must go through three stages of life to become their true selves. The first is the aesthetic stage, which is about simple pleasures and superficiality and can lead to despair. The ethical stage involves embarking on a journey of self-discovery and purpose-making. The final is the religious stage, which links back to the ethical stage but goes beyond it to embrace ethical decision-making and have a direct relationship with spirituality.
 
To review, see More on the Crisis of Religion.
 

Unit 2 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.

• aesthetic life
• aesthetic stage
• Blaise Pascal
• ethical stage
• faith
• Fear and Trembling
• knight of faith
• knight of infinite resignation
• leap of faith
• religious life
• religious stage
• sickness unto death
• Søren Kierkegaard
• teleological suspension of the ethical
• three forms of despair
• three stages of life
• tragic hero