Fear and trembling by Soren Kierkegaard - Essay Example

FEAR AND TREMBLING Faith according to Kierkegaard, is ive, fervent, and a personal desire to attain everlasting happiness through appropriation. Faith deals with the decision-making aspects that an individual is confronted with an either-or situation. In this confrontation, he can either reject or accept subjectivity. In his argument, he shows that objectivity falsehood can be revealed by lack of individual obligation. Fear and trembling, written by Soren Kierkegaard provides a description of two people: knight of faith and knight of infinite resignation. According to him, knight of infinite resignation refers to an individual that has had to surrender something they dearly treasure. Among such things are loved ones or a calling that can happen due to unavoidable circumstances in the current world. An Individual in the knight of infinite resignation has to reassign to stated facts and await his death as he lies with the circumstance that renders him impossible to achieve the desired object. Never the less, the individual has hope in the afterlife and still holds on without giving up. He remains hopeful that his aspirations of the commitments that are supposed to define his life will be granted in the afterlife. In his argument in knight of faith, Kierkegaard goes beyond his description of faith personalities in knight of infinite resignation. Both interpretations of faith ensure that the prospected individual has to surrender a valuable item that they treasure and is essential in providing a meaning in their lives. However, their difference is that the knight of faith has the belief that they will posses again all that they treasured and lost, an aspect identified as the absurd’s strength. He has the trust that regaining his treasured items will not have to happen in the afterlife but in the temporality life of the finite world. On the other hand, Concluding Unscientific Postscript conceives correspondence in objects and thoughts in both transitive and symmetrical ways. Kierkegaard argues that true objects could correspond to these ideas. In depth, he explains the manner in which objective truth differs from subjective truth. Explaining that objective truth is an outer truth and subjective truth an inner truth, he shows the entire writing as a philosophical method of reasoning that has the aim of gaining truth. Although Kierkegaard elaborates on faith, his interpretation in these two writings is dissimilar. Whereas Knight of faith and knight of infinite resignation provides an account of faith in requisites of conviction in the absurd, concluding unscientific postscript proves that faith is the contradiction amid vast passion of individuals’ inwardness and the purpose uncertainty. He identifies the former aspects as the only two steps that used in the development of real faith, but states in the latter that truth is all about subjectivity. Concluding unscientific postscript is explained in a major contrast of objectivity and subjectivity. Objectivity entails science, history, speculative philosophy, and they lack any relationship with the knower’s existence. Subjectivity is not inclusive of any worldly perceptions, but involves occurrences and introspections that have a single relationship with the Creator. On the other hand, knight of faith and the knight of infinite resignation show major aspects of freedom related to individualism in major choices of life. Kierkegaard uses the story of a lad falling and staying in love with a princess despite knowing that his expectations are impossible in showing some choices that different people make. The knight of faith presents faith in the form of a paradox that explains the difficulties involved in reconciling with logic. This is explained using the knight of faith where logic does not appear in the manner he trusts that he will gain his commitment in the present world. However, he still holds on to his belief complying with the aspect named above: the aspect of strength of the absurd. This is considered paradoxical because their relationship is in any way impossible, but the knight of faith still believes in Godly possibilities and wills of their existence. Similarly, concluding unscientific postscript describes truth as a paradox. He shows that the inside of objectivity is outside of subjectivity. Truth describes in the inward may vary in depths hence creating different degrees of passions and proving ethical perpetuity that results to everlasting contentment. According to Kierkegaard in knight of faith, faith is the ultimate expression of the relationship between an individual and God, and in most cases is un-arbitrated by the rational or the principled. Basing on this argument, faith is only probable all the way through God. In both the knight of faith and the knight of the infinite resignation, the individuals are not ready to lose their lovers. In the knight of faith, the man in love with a princess still holds on to the love despite knowing that their love is unfeasible. The knight of the infinite resignation allows the matters regarding his love to fill him absolutely and is not prepared to capitulate to loosing. On waiting for too long, he has to make an infinite move that does not require reflection but passion. The knight of the infinite recognition remembers his love and does not forget since he does not aspire to contradict his ideas. In the both writings, faith is depicted as the greatest passion that a man can possibly own. Take for instance, the manner in which the knight of faith has complete trust in acquiring his love and does not want to fail. Having faith provides the strength to hold on and a chance to wait until infinitive. His both works have a relationship with God, where he claims that the best type of faith is that directed towards God. An object in faith is considered actuality of the Superior being existing within his people. It is essential to understand that this statement has the meaning of God existing as a human being. In this case, there is a clear depiction of divine unity and the oneness caused by faith. Concluding unscientific postscript argues that faith is only achievable if faced with ambiguity. However, both texts depict that for any individual to have complete faith in anything, they must have risked something else. For instance, many people are able to assume God’s objectives because they lack his power. However, provided with the same opportunity as God they would not have that faith. Knight of faith has the belief of uncertainty, where faith is the greatest of all beliefs whereas concluding Unscientific Postscript offers a representation of faith as an objective and subjective thinker where objective truth is all about philosophy and history. On the other hand, subjective truth entails religious truth. These two thinkers are different in that the objective thinker ensures indifference to the subject faith whereas subjective thinker finds everlasting contentment in subjectivity. The latter has it that happiness is good and can only be attained through having faith. Work cited Bretall, Robert. Fear and Trembling. New York: Harcourt Publishers, 1996. Read More