Keirkegaard treated the term existence as a word reserved for the individual human beings.
To exist is to be a certain kind of individual who strives and considers alternatives; he chooses, decides, and commits himself to his choices and decisions. Neither choice, nor decisions, nor commitments were implied in the works of Hegel. This omission of Hegel led Keirkegaard to reject systematisation and objectivity in favour of subjectivity. He considered objectivity as impersonal and subjectivity as personal. Subjectivity being personal entails self-commitment. According to Stumpf, “Kierkegaard’s whole career might well be considered as a self-conscious revolt against abstract thought and an attempt on his part to live up to Feuerbach’s admonition: ‘Do not wish to be a philosopher in contrast to being a man…do not think as a thinker…think as a living, real being…think in Existence’.” (1989:476-477).
Keirkegaard considers truth as subjectivity since truth is bound to existential appropriation.
According to him, “for existing, striving, deciding persons there is not available ‘out there’
a pre-fabricated truth” (Stumpf 1989:479). In his opinion, what is out there is “an objective uncertainty.” This seems more like an anticipation of William James view of “truth is made.” For him, the important question about truth is whether it is true for me and am I prepared to live by it and commit myself to it rather than whether it is objective or not. He considers ‘personal choice’, ‘freedom’, ‘commitment’, ‘personal responsibility’, etc. as key terms. The point Keirkegaard is making here is that people should realise what it means to exist and be a Christian.
In his description of the existential situation of man, Keirkegaard distinguishes between man’s present estate, which is what he is now, and what he ought to be, or what he is essentially. He therefore, argues for a movement in the life of man from the essential to the existential; that is from what he ought to be to what he is now. The essential nature of man involves his relation to the infinite, which is God, thus, the existential nature of man is a consequence of his alienation from the infinite—God. Alienation from God arises from the individual losing himself in the crowd. The crowd for Keirkegaard is ‘untruth’ and it makes
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the individual impenitent and irresponsible. This is irrespective of the kind of crowd; be it a rich or poor crowd, a political crowd or even a church congregation.
In his Christian faith, Keirkegaard sees the individual immersed in the crowd as an attempt by the individual to derive meaning for his existence. This is however a wrong attempt; the right attempt is to relate oneself with God instead of any other thing. In God’s eyes, humankind do not constitute a crowd. God sees each individual as an individual within the society. Therefore, man continues to live a life full of anxiety until he actualises his essential self in God. His anxiety is a result of the fact that while he lives existentially he is alienated from his essential self. This alienation in turn creates a dynamic drive in man to discover his essential self. To explain this dynamic drive or movement in the life of man, Keirkegaard outlines three levels or stages of existence; namely, (i) aesthetic stage, (ii) ethical stage, and (iii) religious stage.
The Aesthetic Stage: At this stage man drifts from pleasure to pleasure. He however, soon discovers that life at this level does not produce the authentic self and therefore, would not result into true existence. He is now faced with the ‘either – or.’ That is, either he remains on the level of aesthetic with its fatal attractions or he moves to the next stage.
The Ethical Stage: Here, man recognises and accepts rules of conduct formulated from reason. He however comes to realise later that he is not capable of fulfilling the moral law, which he finds himself violating deliberately. Conscious of the fact that he deliberately violates the rules of conduct, he develops a sense of guilt, which in turn becomes an antithesis that brings him face to face with the ‘either – or’ question again. Either he remains with his sense of guilt at the ethical level, or he confronts the new reality; his awareness of the guilt.
The Religious Stage: At this third stage, the individual tries to confront his awareness of his guilt. At this point, he is faced with the reality of the existence of God and the awareness of his self-alienation. Thus, he realises more clearly the need to find self-fulfilment in God.
At the religious stage, the individual becomes aware that to become his authentic self he must commit himself to God. The point of Keirkegaard’s argument is that authentic existence is not a result of the intellect but rather a matter of faith and commitment.
Commitment involves a continuous process of choice making in the face of the varieties of
‘either – or.’
This exposé of Keirkegaard’s existential thought implies that the individual’s freedom is based on his ability to think for himself without necessarily falling back on conventions or institutionalised moral codes of conduct. The individual’s freedom is tantamount to
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isolation, because he is solely responsible for his decision on how he wants to live. To be free means to be a man of his own, his own master. As his own master, he decides within his own creativity what is valuable and what is not valuable. The authentic man for Keirkegaard is the man who has nothing to do with universal or societal moral codes. His morality is to the extent that he personally discovers the truth (Agidigbi 2006:29-34).
4.0 Conclusion
Søren Kierkegaard who is considered the father of existentialism was the first to articulate the basic themes of existentialism. He was a Christian philosopher who criticised the way Christianity was practiced at his time. He disagreed with the abstract philosophy of Hegel and argued that man’s way out of the absurdities of this world is in finding God who infinite. He outlined three stages man’s existence by which man discovers his essential self and overcome his alienation. The authentic man, for Kierkegaard, is the man who personally discovers the truth, and not swayed around by societal moral codes.
5.0 Summary
Kierkegaard is the father of existentialism – he articulated the basic themes of existentialism.
Man’s alienation from the infinite—God is the reason that man is faced with the absurdities in the world.
There are three stages or levels in man’s movement to his authentic self.
6.0 Self-Assessment Exercise
List Kierkegaard’s most important and influential works.
Briefly summarise Kierkegaard’s existentialist thought.
Briefly explain Keirkegaard three levels or stages of existence.
7.0 References/Further Reading
Agidigbi, B. 2006. Issues and Themes in Existentialist Philosophy. Benin-City: Skylight Prints.
Agacinski, S. 1988. Aparté: Conceptions and Deaths of Sören Kierkegaard. Trans. by K.
Newmark. Tallahassee: Florida State University.
Bloom, H. (ed.). 1989. Sören Kierkegaard. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.
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Carlisle, C. 2005. Kierkegaard’s Philosophy of Becoming: Movements and Positions.
Albany: State University of New York Press.
Garff, J. 2005. Sören Kierkegaard: A Biography. Trans. by B. H. Kirmmse. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
Hannay, A and G. Marino. (eds.). 1997. The Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lippitt, J and G. Pattison (eds.). 2013. The Oxford Handbook of Kierkegaard. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
McDonald, W. 2017. “Soren Kierkegaard.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/kierkegaard/.
Pattison, G. 1992. Kierkegaard: The Aesthetic and the Religious. London: Macmillan.
Stumpf, S. E. 1989. Philosophy: History and Problems 4th edition. New York: McGraw Hill Inc.
69 Unit 2: Friedrich Nietzsche
Contents 1.0 Introduction
2.0 Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) 3.0 Main Content