Kierkegaards Three Stages of Life and Changes to the Self - Essay Example

Assignment Supervisor Kierkegaard’s Three Stages of Life and Changes to the Self “The choice itself is decisive for the content of the personality …” (102) – this is the central proposal of the work of Soren Kierkegaard, in which he comments on the nature of human existence, and the individual’s search for meaning and understanding of self. Central to his philosophical thinking are the three stages of life, identified in his writing as the Aesthetic, the Ethical, and the Religious. While these are each very different in character, they are not progressive stages – as they are in another philosopher, Nietzsche’s, “Three Metamorphoses”. Rather, elements of each stage can exist at any time in the life of an individual, and may be argued to represent the individual’s awareness of self, rather than chronological periods in the life of a human. It would be ideal if all humans did progress from one stage to another, until everyone arrived in the third or Religious Stage. Certainly, Kierkegaard’s philosophical theories do suggest that it is possible for every individual to become happy, have a successful and meaningful life, and achieve a state of self-awareness. But his suggestion is that humans may at stages in their lives, be identifiable as existing in one or more of these stages at any point in their lives, and that not everyone will reach the ideal stage. The understanding of self is reliant on the ability to make choices. But Kierkegaard proposes that such choices are not determined by what is “right” or “wrong” (writer’s quotation marks) in the conventional sense of a choice between good and evil. Choosing aesthetically, however, would be an aversion to making a choice, “… the aesthetical is not the evil but neutrality …” (107). Thus it is the absence of the ability or the will to make choices that condemns the individual to an existence in the Aesthetic Stage of life. Hence, the Aesthetic Stage is characterized by the lowest grade of responses and thought. Again, it must be noted that individuals may be trapped in this stage throughout their lives, and never progress to other stages. It is in this stage that boredom determines actions, thoughts, and choices. Kierkegaard argues that boredom is “ruinous” (22) for humanity. Like children, who are becoming bored, hence “unruly” (22), humanity can be divided into two sections – those who bore themselves, and those who bore others (24-25). Thus like children, such humans will constantly be seeking for new enjoyments, or other distractions to increase their enjoyment, and hence alleviate boredom. Everything in the life of the Aesthetic is immature – from the constant seeking for pleasure, to the constant change necessary to gain pleasure, especially since pleasure can only be temporary for the person in the Aesthetic stage. Important in this striving for pleasure to alleviate boredom “… one has made up one’s mind to abandon hope.” (26). The art of forgetting has also to be practiced if the individual wishes to live in the Aesthetic stage. Kierkegaard suggests that if a moment is experienced to its absolute extreme, “… its full intensity to the last minute …” (26) it will neither be remembered nor forgotten. No choice of any value is to be made; no limitations on new, preferably pleasurable experiences exist. The object determines pleasure, and so humans search for new objects to entertain and amuse them, and keep the boredom at bay. This stage of life, the Aesthetic, ensures that self is minimized. No real consistency or inward focus exists in the individual. A sense of identity is not developed, and the immaturity of the individual is evident. Should the world continue to exist in this stage of development, it is clear that choices would never be responsibly made. Rather the world would descend into chaos, with every society, every country pursuing only its own gain, and more and more of the “new”. (Writer’s quotation marks) On an international level, only short-term gains would be the focus, and current choices – such as whether to continue depleting fossil-fuel resources, and contributing to global warming, for example – would be made to satisfy immediate needs and desires, not to satisfy long-term survival of humanity. In short, humanity would never develop beyond being a war-like, competitive, and short-sighted collective. A more developed stage defined by Kierkegaard is the Ethical stage of life. Here, consistency of choice is emphasized, and the necessity to be able to without hesitating say “Either/or” (97) is vital. Personal enjoyment is not the only motivation for the thoughts and actions of the individual. Instead, an inward examination is required to establish the degree to which the self is prepared to forego complete pleasure-seeking in order to make choices to the benefit of a wider society. The ultimate question is: “… when truth, righteousness, and holiness are lined up on one side, and lust and base propensities and obscure passions and perdition on the other …” (97), and an “either/or” response must be decided on by the individual. In all situations, however, a person has to test him/herself. This testing of self, according to the writer, allows the individual to mature and grow a sense of identity and self-awareness beyond what is possible in the Aesthetic stage. In youth, the individual only follows “…the instructions of another person …” (97), or responds only to objects which make life less boring and more pleasurable. “The choice itself is decisive for the content of the personality … when (the soul) does not choose it withers away in consumption” (102). This claim implies that in the Ethical stage, choices have to be made based on an inward examination to determine personal ethical stances, and values. Real independence and self-worth can be achieved by such choices. For the individual, the moment of choice, Kierkegaard claims, is of the utmost importance. This is not because of the thought that should go into choices, or due to the “multiplicity of thought” (103) that attached itself to making a choice. Rather it is due to the realization that the power to make choices may, in the very next instant, be removed from the individual. If the individual is firmly matured into the Ethical stage, it is important that he/she realizes that “… it is important to choose and to choose in time.” (104). An absolute decision must be made, in good time, and with passion and an awareness of self and identity. Subsequently, people should also immerse themselves in their choice once they have made it, so that the personality can be formed (102). This allows the personality to be defined ethically – and even choosing the evil will allow growth. Kierkegaard states that “… even if a man were to choose the wrong … he will nevertheless discover, precisely by reason of the energy by which he chose, that he has chosen the wrong” (106). A world in which choices are made, with passion and conviction, but also where awareness grows of the potential value or harm inherent in such choices, would surely become a more manageable, and enjoyable world. Carefully made choices, with the interests of all in mind would certainly benefit humanity generally. The argument Kierkegaard employs implies very definitely that the Ethical stage is far superior to the Aesthetic.  As the ultimate and superior stage, Kierkegaard proposes the Religious stage. It is in this stage that the individual becomes subjective and inward. Passion is excited subjectively and awareness grows “… that very instant he has God, not by any objective deliberation but by virtue of the infinite passion of inwardness.” (211-212). To strive for objectivity is to deny the passion of subjectivity that leads to an understanding of the truth. Thus the argument here leads to the proposal that only when the individual has subjective faith can the ultimate sense of identity and awareness of self be gained. “Objective uncertainty” (215) is to be embraced “with the entire passion of the infinite” (215) and truth can then be discerned. The risk inherent in this type of thought is what makes faith possible. Kierkegaard is then able to argue that the paradox that subjectivity is truth can be logically explained. And it is the acceptance of this paradox that enables humanity to embrace the uncertainty required to have faith. It is also this realization that allows the individual to live life to its fullest extent, and for the personality and the sense of self to be completely formed. If God exists only for subjectivity and inwardness, then this Religious stage must be one that is of ultimate value for humanity. Humans are able to make the choice to live with the knowledge that objectively, the existence of God cannot be proven. Yet they should also be able to accept that an inward subjective focus is what is able to turn the objective uncertainty into truth, and consequently have faith in God, a sense of identity and self awareness. For humanity in general, this would imply an adherence to religious morality and values among all societies and communities. Each of the world’s religions displays common elements of care for others, and compassionate and responsible choices. The well-being of all has to come before the well-being of the individual in religious thinking, and this approach would ensure that the world became a more peaceful and harmonious place. Therefore, Kierkegaard clearly places the three stages of life into a hierarchy, with the Religious stage first in that ranking. It is possible to compare Kierkegaard’s proposals on the nature of self and personality to some of the thoughts of another famous philosopher, Nietzsche. Of these, perhaps the most easily connected to the writings of Kierkegaard, is the comparison with the metamorphoses of the spirit proposed by this philosopher: Of the spirit into the camel, into the lion, and then into the child. In this initial suggestion, the spirit has to become like the camel, with the ability to “kneel down” and bear any burden. It is necessary to understand the strength of the spirit, and realize the ability to carry much. But if the camel then “speeds into the desert”, in a search for the truth, and is able to continue bearing its burden, another metamorphosis occurs. It is when the spirit confronts personal will, the desire for freedom and only personal ambition and desire that the camel is able to transform into a lion. Nietzsche compares external values, and a societal set of morals and behaviors to a dragon in the desert, confronted by the lion, which only wants to maintain its own values and desires not submitting to anything else. It is necessary that the lion defeat the dragon, and realize that the spirit has a right to its own, new values, rather than just the traditionally-accepted morality represented by the dragon. Thus, a further metamorphosis is defined by Nietzsche – a transformation into the child. The innocence of the child is used to represent forgetfulness, and the ability to start fresh, without the burdens of the camel, or the external values of the dragon. Instead, the child embarks on a new journey in which the spirit has its own will, and is able to make its own decisions, and choices. Therefore, the connection between these two philosophies can be argued to be the importance of independence in the personality, and a clear sense of self and self-awareness. It is, however, difficult to reconcile Nietzsche’s rejection of external values of any kind with the Religious Stage proposed in Kierkegaard’s writing. Kierkegaard did propose some significant theories to explain the development of personality, and also suggested that humans can, by looking inward and evaluating their own lives and thoughts, live full and valuable lives. Certainly, he also provides some valuable food for thought to improve the current state of the world and the choices facing humanity. Of most value to the individual is the conception that making choices is the most important function of being human. If we all were to make choices from the perspective of the Ethical and Religious stages defined by Kierkegaard, perhaps the world would be a better place. Thank you very much for your help and the time you spent on this paper. Please let me know if you have any questions. Here’s the essay prompt if you need to look at it again: 1.  Kierkegaard: Explain how the self changes through the three stages of life (Aesthetic, Ethical, Religious) according to Kierkegaard. Specifically, explain how the different forms of choice and inwardness result in different forms of selfhood at each stage. Finally, tell me how you can relate Kierkegaards ideas on choice to significant choices that mankind faces, or the very fact that we have choice, and compare his philosophy to one other course reading we have covered. Finish by explaining some  conclusion you have arrived at from the analysis given in your paper. Read More