preview

More Vs Kierkegaard Essay

Decent Essays

What are the true motivations behind people’s actions? This is a question asked by philosophers for years. To understand why people, do the things they do, you have to dig deeper into their belief systems. Thomas More and Soren Kierkegaard differ in many of their views. The major differing opinion is their views on human nature: why people do the things they do. Kierkegaard believes that humans act because of faith in God. Thomas More says that humans do what they do for the community as a whole. Their views on moral and divine law, individualism, and in punishment of citizens oppose throughout both texts.
The treatment of moral and divine law is contrasted between the two texts. In More’s, Utopia, moral law and divine law are synonymous. …show more content…

In More’s, Utopia, there is minimal punishment because of the lack of freedom. More says; “Instead of inflicting these horrible punishments, it would be far more to the point to provide everyone with some means of livelihood, so that nobody's under the frightful necessity of becoming first a thief and then a corpse” (More). There is hardly anything to punish for, citizens do not have enough freedom or urge to break laws. When punishment is necessary, it is done by the government. In Fear and Trembling, punishment is different. Kierkegaard believes that if humans looked at what could happen before acting they would not act; “If anyone on the verge of action should judge himself according to the outcome, he would never begin. Even though the result may gladden the whole world, that cannot help the hero; for he knows the result only when the whole thing is over, and that is not how he became a hero, but by virtue of the fact that he began” (Kierkegaard). If Abraham was not willing to sacrifice Isaac he would not have been punished by the world, he would have been punished by God. In Kierkegaard’s society, humans get guilt and conviction from God, not government like More’s

Get Access