In today’s class we were introduced to Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. While in school, he couldn’t find a major; in fact, philosophy dissatisfied him because he found it to be too abstract. Today, he is known as the father of existentialism, meaning that he prioritizes existence and living over abstract thinking. Existentialism focuses on living the authentic life and being responsible for decision-making. Additionally, Kierkegaard wrote in pseudonyms, taking on different characters in his writings. He did this in order to leave the reader “alone” with the work, so the audience won’t read his writings as a type of confession or autobiography, rather they are co-authors of them.
Furthermore, existentialism centers around living your own truth; committing for what ceases you, and living by it. This, in Kierkegaard’s eyes, gives one’s life meaning and allows one to live authentically. Truth, therefore, is subjective to each person. One man’s truth may not coincide with another’s.
Finally, Kierkegaard identifies the stages of life’s way into three categories, which all individuals fall under: aesthetic, ethical, and religious. What identifies each level is how one determines “what is the good life?” These spheres exist as modes of being, language games, or patterns of belief or practice. Movement from one level to another requires a movement of the will or a leap, which cannot be explained or supported by human reason.
The aesthetic stage of life’s way, for example, is not necessarily connected to the arts or being sensible, but more so living in the immediate. In the aesthetic stage, the individual is essentially uncommitted, detached, and an on-looker of life. The aesthetic avoids life via the simple immediacy, which means they do not preclude highly reflective forms of life, and they are pre-ethical and a-moral. Notions of right and wrong, good and evil, or virtue and vice, play no role in the aesthetic evaluation of life.
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