Søren Kierkegaard Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (May 5, 1813 - November 11, 1855), a 19th century Danish philosopher, has achieved general recognition as the first existentialist philosopher, though some new research shows this may be a more difficult connection than previously thought.[1] Philosophically, he bridged the gap that existed between Hegelian philosophy and what was to become Existentialism. Kierkegaard strongly rejected both the Hegelian philosophy of his time, and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Danish church. Much of his work deals with religious problems such as the nature of faith, the institution of the Christian church, and Christian ethics and theology. Because of this, Kierkegaard's work is sometimes characterized as Christian existentialism. Kierkegaard's work can resist interpretation, since he wrote most of his early work under various pseudonyms, and often these pseudo-authors will comment on the works of the earlier pseudo-authors.
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2 Life 3 Philosophy 4 Bibliography 5 External links |
Name
His first and middle names are pronounced "Sir-ren O-boo". The Danish pronounciation of Kierkegaard's surname is "Keer-ker-gore", although outside Denmark it is often pronounced "Keer-ker-guard". The "aa" in his name equates to the modern Danish letter å (a with a ring over it), the pronunciation of which can vary but is closer to an English o than an a.
Søren Kierkegaard was born to an affluent family in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. His father, Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard, was a strongly religious man. Convinced that he had earned God's wrath, he believed that none of his children would live to the age of 34 (Christ's age at crucifixion). The sins necessitating this punishment, he believed, included cursing the name of God in his youth, and possibly impregnating Kierkegaard's mother out of wedlock. In fact, his predictions were realized for all but two of his seven children. So strong was his father's conviction that Søren himself was surprised when he survived his 34th year (hence the title of his first major publication, From the Papers of One still Living).
This early introduction to the notion of sin, and its connection from father and son, laid the foundation for much of Kierkegaard's work (particularly Fear and Trembling). Kierkegaard's mother, Anne Sørensdatter Lund Kierkegaard, is not directly referred to in his books, although she too affected his later writings.
Despite his father's occasional religious melancholy, Kierkegaard and his father shared a close bond. Kierkegaard learned to explore the realm of his imagination through a series of exercises and games they played together.
Another important aspect of Kierkegaard's life that is generally considered to have had a major influence on his work, was his broken engagement to Regine Olsen. Kierkegaard's motive for ending the engagement remains mysterious. It is generally believed that the two were deeply in love -- perhaps even after she married Johan Frederik Schlegel (1817-1896), a prominent civil servant (not to be confused with the German philosopher Friedrich von Schlegel, 1772-1829). For the most part, their contact was limited to chance meetings on the streets of Copenhagen. Some years later, however, Kierkegaard went so far as to ask Regine's husband for permission to speak with her, but was refused. Soon afterward, the couple left the country, Schlegel having been appointed Governor in the Danish West Indies. By the time Regine returned, Kierkegaard was dead. Regine Schlegel lived until 1904, and upon her death she was buried near Kierkegaard in the Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen.
Kierkegaard's final years (1854-1855) were taken up with a sustained attack on the Danish State Church by means of newspaper articles published in The Fatherland (Fædrelandet) and a series of self-published pamphlets called The Moment (Øieblikket). Kierkegaard was initially called to action by a speech by Professor Hans Lassen Martensen, which called his recently deceased predecessor Bishop Jakob P. Mynster a "truth-witness, one of the authentic truth-witnesses." Kierkegaard had had an affection towards Mynster, but had come to see that his conception of Christianity was in man's interest, rather than God's, and in no way was Mynster's life comparable to that of a 'truth-witness.' Before the tenth number of the Moment could be published, Kierkegaard collapsed on the street and was taken to hospital where he died a month later.
Notes: Kierkergaard does not mean "church garden", nor "churchyard"; rather, it means (in this instance) "church farm" - that is, the farm, of farms in village, which is close to the church. Kierkegaard (kirkegård in modern Danish) can also mean "graveyard". Corresponding family names are Noerrgaard, Oestergaard, Soendergaard and Vestergaard, of farms north-, east-, south- and west- in the village.
Most emphatically in Sickness Unto Death but also in Fear and Trembling Kierkegaard argues that humans are made up of three parts: the finite, the infinite, and the "relationship of the two to itself." The finite (sense, body, knowledge) and the infinite (paradox and the capacity to believe) always exist in a state of tension. That tension, as it is aware of itself, is the "self." When the self is lost, either to insensibility or exuberance, the person is in a state of despair. Notably, despair does not have to be agony. It is, instead, the loss of self. In Either/Or, Kierkegaard has two epistolary novels in two volumes. The first letter writer is an aesthete whose wildness of belief and imagination lead him to a meaningless life and a life of egoistic despair. The second volume's author is a judge who lives his life by strict Christian laws. Because he works entirely upon received law and never uses belief or soulfulness, he lives a life of ethical despair. Only the aesthetic and ethical wed together are the "religious" life. In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard argues that the choice of Abraham to obey the private, anti-ethical, religious commandment of God to sacrifice his son is the perfect
act of self. If Abraham were to blithely obey, his actions would have no meaning. It is only when he acts with fear and trembling that he demonstrates a full awareness and the actions of the self, as opposed to the actions of either the finite or infinite portions of humanity.
Kierkegaard was devoted to aesthetics, and is sometimes referred to as the "poet-philosopher" because of the passionate way in which he approached philosophy. Most of his early works were fictional explorations of philosophic ideas, as seen through the eyes of semi-reliable narrators. Looking at these works overall, we can derive a coherent narrative in which an aimless young man first devotes himself to sensual and aesthetic pleasures in lieu of making real choices about his life, and later comes to embrace marriage and commitment as a pathway towards truly experiencing life in a more profound way.
This narrative model has subsequently served as the underlying structure for a number of noted books and movies, including The Graduate, The Moviegoer, and, more recently High Fidelity.
This is an Article on Søren Kierkegaard. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Søren Kierkegaard Life
Philosophy
Despair
Aesthetics
Bibliography
See also: philosophy of religion.External links