Soren Kierkegaard
Soren Kierkegaard – A Core Theme Friendly Overview
Our exploration of existentialism began by tracing out some indications of its philosophical background. We identified a shift in philosophical perspective in the outlook of Brentano and traced out the methodological background to existentialism in phenomenology and the analytical method characteristic of the phenomenological approach developed by Husserl and Heidegger. We then moved on to begin our examination of the intellectual and ideological background of existentialism in the philosophical perspectives of two philosophers – Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. We managed to look at the initial elements of Nietzsche’s position before the Christmas break. I would like to invite you to take some time during the Christmas break to read the outline of Kierkegaard’s perspectives that I have prepared for you. In this way, we can economize a bit on time and be in a better position to move directly into existentialism itself as such when we return to Do-We-Know.
Introductory remarks
We have already seen in our exploration of phenomenology that existentialism is as much an approach to our experience of life as it is a strict philosophical system. In the proto-existentialism put forth by ‘atheistic’ philosophers such as Nietzsche, existentialism could be viewed as a life-view in which the individual, in a universe without God, without revealed morality and without predetermined values and answers to the meaning of life must create his or her own truth, value and meaning systems. It was a life-view where the individual was ultimately, radically and solely responsible for his or her own actions. With the individual person at the center of all things, the radical, aristocratic individualism of a Nietzschean approach demonstrated that it was up to each individual to create an essence out of the facticity of his or her own existence. This does not necessarily lead to a nihilistic schema void of ethics, morality or
Our exploration of existentialism began by tracing out some indications of its philosophical background. We identified a shift in philosophical perspective in the outlook of Brentano and traced out the methodological background to existentialism in phenomenology and the analytical method characteristic of the phenomenological approach developed by Husserl and Heidegger. We then moved on to begin our examination of the intellectual and ideological background of existentialism in the philosophical perspectives of two philosophers – Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. We managed to look at the initial elements of Nietzsche’s position before the Christmas break. I would like to invite you to take some time during the Christmas break to read the outline of Kierkegaard’s perspectives that I have prepared for you. In this way, we can economize a bit on time and be in a better position to move directly into existentialism itself as such when we return to Do-We-Know.
Introductory remarks
We have already seen in our exploration of phenomenology that existentialism is as much an approach to our experience of life as it is a strict philosophical system. In the proto-existentialism put forth by ‘atheistic’ philosophers such as Nietzsche, existentialism could be viewed as a life-view in which the individual, in a universe without God, without revealed morality and without predetermined values and answers to the meaning of life must create his or her own truth, value and meaning systems. It was a life-view where the individual was ultimately, radically and solely responsible for his or her own actions. With the individual person at the center of all things, the radical, aristocratic individualism of a Nietzschean approach demonstrated that it was up to each individual to create an essence out of the facticity of his or her own existence. This does not necessarily lead to a nihilistic schema void of ethics, morality or