Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard - Essay Example

Sren Kierkegaard Sren Kierkegaard is a Danish philosopher most commonly recognized for his work during the 19th century. His work has been seen as prolific for multiple reasons, one being that his writings involved the use of multiple pseudonyms to present philosophical principles in an open minded eclectic manner and narrative method. His look into the multifaceted changing nature of self and its many stages of individualism can be seen as one of the more contemporary takes on the concept of the examined life and its universal importance as it pertains to existence. Kierkegaard's life did not extend far beyond his hometown of Copenhagen. He notably only traveled abroad five times, four times to Berlin and once to Sweden. Despite this fact, he still managed to take from his studies and many experiences to form a universal model for understanding the different stages and aspect of living. His many works garnered him acclaim among fellow scholars and mathematicians of his era, and like many of the greatest philosophers his works have been heralded as timeless. One of Kierkegaard's most notable works is his theory of the spheres of existence. For the philosopher, existence meant to become progressively more individualistic (Kierkegaard, 175). Keirkegaard believed this individualistic existence caused everyone to travel along a path toward self-realization and this process, he noted, had three stages. These stages being, Ethical, Religious and Aesthetic, as "All human beings are currently at one of this stages, depending on the extent to which they have achieved their life-project (Kierkegaard, 175)." By more individualistic, Kiekegaard means that through each stage individual gain a higher understanding of self than they had before and it is through the privileged perspective provided by the assessment of and graduation from the previous stage that allows the person to attain this new form of self. Kiekegaard goes on to further note that, "Each stage is a way of seeing life, a way of understanding the world. They are different ways of living out one's existence, independent spheres of life, situations which embody a certain stability. Living fully in the aesthetic sphere will never lead to the ethical one, and the upholding of ethics will never open the door to religion." He closes by pointing out that no one stage can completely dominate and individual's life and if one were to allows this to happen they would stay stagnant and not progress through the stages. Aesthetics The first stage of Kierkegaard's progression of existential stages is aesthetics recognized as the 'immersion in sensuous experience; valorization of possibility over actuality; egotism; fragmentation of the subject of experience; nihilistic wielding of irony and skepticism; and flight from boredom (Stanford, p1)." This stage of existence is a very selfish one that involves excessive self-indulgence. Kierkegaard refers to temptation and the appreciation and distraction of beauty a lot in this section. Ethics Ethics in Kierkegard's work has more than one meaning, "It is used to denote both: (i) a limited existential sphere, or stage, which is superseded by the higher stage of the religious life; and (ii) an aspect of life which is retained even within the religious life (Stanford, p1)." This is basically the stage where one starts to asses their life and view themselves objectively. It is recognized as the stage of reasoning this stage is 'limited' in that it is the stage that comes before the religious stage, but it is retained within the religious stage in that the traits used in the ethical stage must also be used to make the valuable choices in the religious stage. Ultimately the final obligation to transition from Ethics into the religious stage is to completely relinquish one's reliance on reason for one's trust in faith. Religion The final stage of existence that Kierkegaard recognizes is the stage of Religion, and specifically Christianity. Kierkegaard believed the most important aspect of this stage, and in life in general, was faith and the passion one has for being morally responsible. It is also in this stage that Kierkegaard stresses the value of choice. As noted, "Anxiety is a two-sided emotion: on one side is the dread burden of choosing for eternity; on the other side is the exhilaration of freedom in choosing oneself. Choice occurs in the instant, which is the point at which time and eternity intersect - for the individual creates through temporal choice a self which will be judged for eternity (Stanford, p1)." Here we see the concept of self changing once again and the self that was once perceived objectively with eyes looking from the Ethical stage onto the aesthetic stage from a more intellectual position, now in the religious stage is much more spiritual. Aesthetics/Ethics It is through the stage of ethics that aesthetics is recognized for its shallow and delusional ways. "This type of aestheticism is criticized from the point of view of ethics. It is seen to be emptily self-serving and escapist. It is a despairing means of avoiding commitment and responsibility (Stanford, p1)." Despite the selfish nature of the aesthetic stage Keirkegaard does not completely disregard its value, he recognizes that the aesthetic stage of existence is what makes the higher stages of existence necessary. This can specifically been seen with the transitional relationship between the aesthetic stage and the ethical stage. The stages work together by canceling each other out within other stages. For example, it's noted in Kierkegaard's pseudo-dialectic that "the aesthetic and the ethical are both annulled and preserved in their synthesis in the religious stage." This is how the transition between the ethical and the religious stage comes about in that the religious stage encompasses room for both previous stages within its borders. In Keirkegaard's classic work "Either/ Or", published in 1843, he focuses on two life perspectives, one being hedonistic and pleasure seeking and the other being ethical. This work closely resembles the conflict shared between the aesthetic stage and the stage of ethics. In the work Keirkegaard reflects on the responsibility and duty to resist the seductions of evil by not being idle. He notes, "boredom is the root of all evil, what can be more natural than the effort to overcome it Here, as everywhere, however, it is necessary to give the problem calm consideration; otherwise one may find oneself driven by the demoniac spirit of boredom deeper and deeper into the mire, in the very effort to escape. Everyone who feels bored cries out for change. With this demand I am in complete sympathy, but it is necessary to act in accordance with some settled principle (Keirkegaard, p25)." He goes on to further this thought using the term 'rotation' explain how man is never content, always in need of a new high to outdo his previous ventures. He says that man's pursuit of happiness in the realm of the aesthetics basically "depends on change in its boundless infinity (p25)." This gets old after a while and as Kiekegaard notes it is vulgar and inartistic. He says it defeats itself and basically has no end and it is only through examining one's life that they are able to re-experience their past endeavors through different perspectives. This notion brings us back to the concept that the aesthetic stage can only be fully assessed from the ethical stage. This process reveals what Keikgaard recognizes as different forms of selfhood in each stage. Ethics/Religion The ethical stage involves reasoning where as the religious stage is fueled by, and relies on, faith. Kierkegaard is clear to distinguish between the two, as it is noted that, "Christian dogma, according to Kierkegaard, embodies paradoxes which are offensive to reason. The central paradox is the assertion that the eternal, infinite, transcendent God simultaneously became incarnated as a temporal, finite, human being (Jesus) (Stanford, p1)." This understanding that there is a line between the eternal and temporal body comes long after the aesthetic stage and doesn't become relevant until one has gone through the ethical and is entering into the religious. This resembles "There are two possible attitudes we can adopt to this assertion, viz. we can have faith, or we can take offense. What we cannot do, according to Kierkegaard, is believe by virtue of reason. If we choose faith we must suspend our reason in order to believe in something higher than reason (." Descartes like Kierkegaard is a highly respected philosophical thinker. His most famous work Meditationes de Prima Philosophia (Meditations On First Philosophy). Published in 1641, poses the main argument that "Every belief based on the senses (beliefs about the external world) is such that we could conceive it to be false (Descartes, p1)." By the external world being debatable, then one is forced to contemplate and examine the existence of reality. This closely relates to Keirkegaard's concept that the aesthetic stage can only be assessed from the ethical stage. Descartes adopts the ideal that one can only know they exist for sure through the process of examination one's life through thought, because the existence of one's thoughts is undeniable and not debatable. I can relate to Kierkegaard's ideas in that they are universal and applicable to every individual. The main concept they teach is the value of moderation. The fact that no one stage can on its own dominate one's life completely. The religious stage is not at all relevant in one's life without the conflict drawn from the clash between the aesthetic and the ethical. Without the aesthetic there is no need to stop outside of one's own pursuit of personal pleasure to become self-aware, and without this reasoning one c an never become aware of the choices available to them to achieve salvation in the religious stage. I do think since Keirkegaard was such a proponent of the Christian faith, there is no reason why his thinking can't be promoted more in the church. For the most part many Christian churches avoid this type of in depth assessment as it pertains to individual growth. In sum, Keirkegaard's philosophies have stood the test of time because they are still applicable. His work pays homage to Descartes, as well as Socrates, who both promote the importance of the examined life. Walking through one's life blindly only in the pursuit of meager pleasures or even over analyzing one's every experience without fully embracing the moment, both can be detrimental to the value of one's existence. Keirkegaard, like many of the philosophers before him, has setup a model that all individuals can live by, and each stage feeds off the one prior. In addition to teaching that there is a value in our actions, Keirkegaard also proves that there is a path to better understanding of one's self through the constant self-evalutions of those actions. Work Cited KIERKEGAARD, S., La maladie a la mort, in Oeuvres Compltes, Editions de L'Orante, Paris, 1984, vol. 16, p. 175. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy "Sren Kierkegaard" First published Tue Dec 3, 1996; substantive revision Fri May 8, 2009 Read More