The Absolute Paradox For Kierkegaard Essay

This allegory is one of the most strong allegories that describe human existence in its most philosophical and irreligious

in a world of imperfection proves his existence. God is also the highest conceivable idea of

Kierkegaard explains that a tragic hero is one who sacrifices a loved one in order to save other people. Since this tragic hero is choosing what is best for society over what is best for themselves, this is deemed an ethical act regardless of the fact that it is a sacrifice. Kierkegaard reasons that Abraham is not a tragic hero because he does not fit the standards of benefiting society with his sacrifice. When he sacrifices his son Isaac, it is for his own sake as well as God’s. Kierkegaard explains that if the ethical is universal (based on Hegel’s explanation), then Abraham would be considered a murderer because of his underlying intention and non-existent value of the act to society.

Soren Kierkegaard is a Danish philosopher and theologian who attempted to deliver his existentialist point of views. Specifically, Kierkegaard emphasizes the need for humans to take responsibility for their actions and go beyond their “socially imposed identities” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). According to his earliest major work “Either/Or,” he suggests humans are reluctantly stuck between two spheres of life that they must choose between: aesthetic or ethical. He delves into what constitutes a life as either and suggests the practicalities associated with each choice. He stresses the importance of being responsible for the truth and living according to the truth we’ve committed to. In addition, the existential choice can be

In Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Kierkegaard differentiates between the subject as the knower, and the world (object) as the known: the only way we know the world is through ourselves. Kierkegaard emphasizes the importance of "how" the subject is related to the truth,

Kierkegaard’s position on faith is represented with the Knight of infinite resignation and the Knight of faith. The Knight of faith is regarded as the one who believes in that which is absurd. For, he is the knight that is able to believe in the things that are

Hegel’s and Kierkegaard's philosophies can be attributed to the Romantic influences of the late eighteenth century. Each were also opposed to their predecessor; aspects of Romanticism were criticized by Hegel, while Kierkegaard had a negative disposition to Hegel’s ideas as he deemed them inapplicable to one’s personal life. In Sophie’s World, Hegel’s “world spirit” is described as “the sum of human utterances.” In the same context, Kierkegaard’s existentialism is described as “the only important thing [is] each man’s ‘own existence.” It is also worth noting, though Kierkegaard rebuked Hegelianism, the man himself was dead a decade before Kierkegaard was thirty years old, so it could not be said the two men were direct contemporaries.

Starting with Kierkegaard, it is best to understand that he has a deep fulfillment to God and that he feels is the absolute. This absolute is to live in the realm of a paradox and that paradox is proving the existence of God and experiencing it for yourself. To understand this is to go through the different stages, of aesthetic, moral and religious. The aesthetic is all about the individual and focuses on oneself as an individual. The moral is having to be antagonistic towards yourself in

— If our thinking is not in alignment with reality (the creative nature of God), then our experience will be as confused as our beliefs.

The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines existentialism as a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad (Merriam, 2011). In other words, an existentialist believes that our natures are the natures we make for ourselves, the meaning of our existence is that we just exist and there may or may not be a meaning for the existence, and we have to individually decide what is right or wrong and good or bad for ourselves. No one can answer any of those things for us. A good

Kierkegaard goes on to use the knowledge of God as an example to show why subjective reflection is more important. He believes that there is the objective reflection that states that this is the true God, but subjectively, the relation to God that the person has, is a God-relation. He makes sure to point out that there really is no truth in the situation without the relation to God because the relation to God is more important than the objective proof of God's existence. So with that in mind, to treat God objectively is to treat Him as an object. However, God is a subject and therefore can only be related to subjectively in inwardness.

“One of the most profound mysteries of Christianity is the Incarnation, when ‘the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’ Something analogous to this mystery may be found in the birth of every child, when a spirit enclosed in flesh comes to live in the world.”

In this essay, I will try to summarize, analyze and discuss several pages of Søren Kierkegaard’s Training in Christianity. I will try to focus on his approach to sacred history, a general Christian history and Christianity, which he discusses in this work in relation to faith in God. In other parts of this essay I will attempt also to relate these pages of his work to some key ideas of Kierkegaard’s theology and philosophy and support this with some concrete quotations from the text. In the end I will very briefly compare different philosophies of Hegel and Kierkegaard and try to relate Kierkegaard’s work to a few topics, which

Man is created in the image and likeness of God. The purpose of his existence is to reach his full potential, that being to live a life that is more human, more Christian a life that is similar to that of Christ's. Thus, our existence revolves upon loving and inculcating our knowledge in the minds of others. These Christian concepts is essential in Fr. De Torre's discussion of the perfectibility of man through education.

Kierkegaard's works are not straightforward proclamations of his philosophy: he wrote under pseudonyms and assumed the persona of these fictional characters in his writing. Thus, one must be careful when attributing a particular position to Kierkegaard -- often the view is advanced by a pseudonym, so various inferential processes must be applied in order to substantiate a claim that Kierkegaard really meant any statement.