Who is Soren Kierkegaard? First of all, this is a person whose name everyone knows, but few understand what he is famous for. Often, wanting to appear smarter, more educated, more erudite than they really are, young people refer to his last name, not at all understanding what exactly he means. Especially when this very surname is pronounced or spelled with errors. So who is he really?
Biography. Young years
Soren Kierkegaard (date of birth May 5, 1813) was born in Copenhagen (Denmark) in a peasant family. He was the youngest in the family and the last child of his father. His parent experienced economic ups and downs, and at the time of leaving for another world, he did not deprive his offspring of his inheritance. The family was religious and all children were brought up in reverence and love for God.
At 17, Kierkegaard Soren enters university to study theology, philosophy and psychology. For eight years, he plunges into the crazy cycle of events associated with student life. In 1838, a sharp change in worldview takes place, and idle fun ceases to interest the future philosopher. Soren Kierkegaard, whose photo just captured the moment of rethinking those values,which have been laid in him since childhood, abruptly changes his view of the world. In particular, he criticizes his belief in God and the immortal soul. In order to find new landmarks and understand Catholicism, Kierkegaard Soren decides to return to the roots and re-study the Bible and Greek philosophy.
The transition to maturity
His research bears certain fruit in two years - the title of candidate of science in theology. At the same time, the social position of the young man also changes, he becomes engaged to his girlfriend and is preparing to become a pastor. At the same time, Kierkegaard Soren is finishing work on a thesis for a master's degree in philosophy, based on Hegel's dialectic and the general ideas of the Reformation, considered from the point of view of irony and Socratic dogma.
Family troubles and philosophical revelations
In 1841, hopes of becoming a family man leave the philosopher, as he cannot find himself, doubts his religious views and decides that he will only burden his bride with this. The engagement was broken off and the girl rejected. Avoiding scandal, the young man leaves for Berlin. Based on his conclusions and feelings, he writes a philosophical essay "Either-Or", which touches on issues of ethics and aesthetics. But to the publisher in 1843 it comes signed by a pseudonym, and not by his real name - Soren Kierkegaard. Years of living in Germany help a man recover, but as soon as he returned, a chance meeting with a former lover ignited his former passion again. Butafter a short time, the man again runs away to Berlin and publishes two new manuscripts at once, allegorically telling about his love. This was the moment when the philosophy of Soren Kierkegaard began to take shape. But even before the release of his books, the philosopher learns that his ex-fiancee is getting married. It sobers him up.
A period of criticism and rejection of reality
In addition to fans, Kierkegaard Soren also receives critics who speak unflatteringly on the pages of the Corsair magazine about his works. In response, the philosopher publishes an article in which he tries to shame and humiliate his critics. This greatly harms his authority in the eyes of society, offensive caricatures and cruel jokes appear. Shortly after that, another book comes out of print, where the philosophy of Soren Kierkegaard is told on hundreds of pages, from the very beginning of his creative and scientific path to the final conclusions.
Death in poverty
For many years, Kierkegaard acted in his books as a preacher, expounder of the foundations of the Christian faith, while he himself was not a follower of it. At least he himself thought so. In 1855, the philosopher founds his own newspaper, but manages to publish only 10 issues before he falls mortally ill. At the age of 42, Soren Kierkegaard, whose biography shows that even in such a short period of time one can achieve significant success in philosophy and theology, speak out about this in his works, receive critical and laudatory reviews, dies in Denmark. He left afteronly money for the funeral and unfinished works.
Attitude towards existentialism
The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, often called the father of existentialism, acted in his works as a fierce critic of rationalism and an adherent of a subjective approach to philosophy. In his opinion, this is precisely what it differed from science based on generally accepted facts. The main question that every person asks himself is: “Is my existence necessary?” - has thousands of different answers. The philosopher argued that passion is both subjectivity and reality for each individual person. And that the subject for consideration should be a unique, unique individual who will show his view of the world.
Abstract thinking
Based on Kierkegaard's complex position on this issue, we can conclude that he believed that only that thing exists that does not allow itself to be thought. After all, as soon as we start thinking about something, we interfere in the natural process of the flow of things. This means that this object ceases to exist, turning into another, already changed by observation. Therefore, in existential philosophy, the main way of knowing the world around was considered not to be an invention, but to experience events, things, flow along with them, without interrupting their existence.
Freedom and Independence
Kierkegaard argued, in contradiction to Hegel, that social history is one continuous tape of necessary events. That is, the characters who entered the story had no other choice but todo so and not otherwise. The inner world of a person is subordinate only to him, and what happens in it should in no way relate to external circumstances. Making every day, hour, moment a new inner choice, a person approaches the Absolute, which is higher than the surrounding world. But at the same time, every decision must be held accountable. If the moment of choice is postponed by a person until an indefinite time, then circumstances make it for him, and, thus, the person loses his self.
Philosophy of Despair
Coming into a state of despair, a person loses faith in himself and seeks to get rid of this feeling. And for this it is necessary to remove oneself from being, so that despair is gone. But to run away, to leave, to eliminate oneself is impossible. A person does not realize his great destiny as a spiritual unit, but this is rather a ubiquitous state than an exception to the rule. And, according to Kierkegaard, this is good. Because only a desperate person can find the strength to move on, to heal himself. It is the same horror that makes our souls fit for ex altation.
Ways of Existence
Kierkegaard Soren distinguished two ways of existence of an individual: ethical and aesthetic.
Aesthete, according to the philosopher, lives the way nature created him. He accepts his strengths and weaknesses, the imperfection of the world around him and his own significance in it, tries to feel and accept as much as possible. The main direction of the existence of "aesthetics" is pleasure. But given that sucha person is always guided by external circumstances, he is never free internally. Another minus in the existence of an aesthete is that he never manages to achieve a state of complete satisfaction. There is always something more to strive for, the pursuit of a hedonistic pastime. The esthete person loses his sense of self, dissolving in the outside world and forgetting about the inner world. In order to feel whole again, he needs to make a conscious choice.
A person who has chosen the ethical side voluntarily deprives himself of freedom and the pleasure of "going with the flow" along with the world around him. He arranges his reality, making a conscious choice, makes an effort on his essence in order to fit his existence into the framework that he himself has determined. In fact, a person creates himself anew, does not remake himself to the circumstances, but does not nurture his natural features, but adjusts them to the reality he has chosen.
On kindness
Philosophy asserts that the struggle and unity of good and evil are relative. Each of our choices determines the scale that will be filled more. Kierkegaard believed that the good in man is due to freedom, and not vice versa. After all, when you are internally free, then you yourself are free to choose whether to be kind to you or not. This is the position of an aesthete. An ethical person, on the other hand, has initially accepted the rules of morality and cannot transgress them. Even when he does not feel like being kind, the reality he has chosen pushes him to take certain actions.
Awareness of Faith
Kierkegaard considered the highest level of human existence"chivalry of faith". It was even higher than ethical rules, because it proceeded from the acceptance of God's providence, and not from a moral code. Ethics is a public concept, faith is an individual, singular one. And considering his life from such a position, a person understands that every individual has a debt to God, and sometimes ethical laws have to be violated to pay this debt.
It is known that in Christian morality despair is a form of sin, but if it takes the form of repentance before God and leads to healing, then it is welcome among the knights of the faith. Kierkegaard understood faith as the highest human ability, while not denying reason and morality, which help to achieve an understanding of divine revelations.
The philosopher assigned a special role to consciousness. He believed that only through consciousness can a person regain his self, reject despair, survive moral "death" and be reborn like a phoenix. Consciousness was also one of the pillars of faith and freedom. It was achieved in a harmonious balance between the finite and the infinite, the material and the spiritual. It is the maintenance of balance that helps a person to remain himself.
The meaning of Kierkegaard's philosophy
The philosopher's contemporaries failed to appreciate him. At that time, the thinking of the Reformation prevailed, they wanted renewal, novelty, and not immersion in oneself and ethical and aesthetic choice. Soren Kierkegaard's philosophy was briefly retold in newspapers and magazines, without plunging into the essence, which distorted the meaning of what was said. There were many who wanted to quitstone in the Danish thinker. But he himself believed that this negative fame would benefit those who were really interested in his teachings. After all, it is important that they understand his books, and not seek to imitate him and savor the events of his life. Soren Kierkegaard, whose philosophy was often criticized, was able to touch the hearts of the later generation.
After two world conflicts that took place in the twentieth century, people again turned to the works of Kierkegaard and found in them what they were looking for, looking at the world around them differently. They knew despair and found the strength to be reborn from the ashes. This is exactly what the great philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote about.
