I’ve been having a lot of existential thoughts recently. Not to go too much into my personal life, but like many of my young viewers out there, it seem like I need to make a career choice.
Though not helpful in choosing a career directly, it’s important to investigate our lives’ purposes.
What better place to start than the Father of Existentialism, Soren Kierkegaard?
What were Kierkegaard’s ideas? How can he believe in God?
Keep reading this article to see the video, transcript and further sources.
Interesting tidbits in the post include: How can Abraham justify (almost) killing his son, according to Kierkegaard? The story of Kierkegaard’s broken engagement and more.
Actually, this will come tomorrow. This video has taken a little too long to make.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2kZy-RCH04
Bonus questions will come tomorrow
Seriously.
Transcript
In the biggest and smallest ways, we are all trying to find meaning and purpose in our lives. And often this quest, drives us insane.
Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard is considered the Father of Existentialism, and he thought a lot about this as well.
Of central importance to Kierkegaard was how we should act in our lives. No matter how much noble philosophizing you did, if you still passed wind the faces of small children, that act still counted.
Increasingly important was this question because Kierkegaard believed in God. But he was quite unlike most Christians. On the note of purpose, even in believing in God one asks, but what is God’s purpose?
And here’s where people’s heads explode.
Kierkegaard responds to this by saying there is no human-comprehensible purpose of God, making faith in God absurd. In this case, absurd means ungraspable to human understanding.
Belief can only come about by virtue of the absurd, by suspending pure reason and having faith.
He believed that this faith should be passionate and subjective, because those were the real truths of this world. This emotionality could not come about through church dogma and rites, but through the self.
Arguably, one popular existential idea is Kierkegaard’s knight of faith. This person is described as one who defines the nature of his/her own existence. This means social rules are not the most important or powerful. For Kierkegaard, the ultimate distinction for good and evil come from God. For athesists, generally this comes from within.
Boom! That’s Kierkegaard.
How did Kierkegaard justify Abraham nearly killing his son?
How did Kierkegaard’s broken engagement affect his life and works?
How is Kierkegaard’s name pronounced in his native Danish?
Find out the answers to these questions and get further readings on existentialism at 90Secondstoculture.com just look for the Kierkegaard post.
Sources / Further Reading:
Wikipedia: Soren Kierkegaard
Wikipedia: Existentialism
Wikipedia:
Wikipedia: Christian Existentialism
Stanford Philosophy Encyclopedia: Kierkegaard
(image by alist)
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