Fear And Trembling Soren Kierkegaard Analysis

This other Existentialist is none other than Soren Kierkegaard, who is considered the to be one of the first Existential philosophers. In Problema I, of his literary work “Fear & Trembling” he tackles the question of whether there is a “Teleological Suspension of the Ethical?” (Kierkegaard 62). Specifically, he poses this question in relation to the story of Abraham and Isaac. Kierkegaard’s anxiety over this matter first comes in his asking, “Then why does Abraham do it? For God’s sake, and what is exactly the same, for his own. He does it for the sake of God because God demands this proof of his faith; he does it for his own sake in order to be able to produce the proof.” (kierkegaard 69). This in essence goes back to people’s supreme responsibility

He finds himself wandering through life, having a job, an apartment, and plenty of material possessions, yet still feeling as if it doesn’t matter because he is going to die eventually. He then meets Tyler Durden, played in the film version by Brad Pitt, and this changes his life. After a mysterious encounter with him on an airplane, the narrator’s apartment explodes, leaving him with nothing. He calls this mysterious man whom he had met on the plane, and asks him to have a drink. Upon leaving the bar, he asks to stay with Durden. To which Durden obliges, but only if the narrator will do him the favor of punching him. At first he refuses, but after a bit of convincing he ends up doing it and in return getting struck back. Pain rushes through his body, but to his own surprise, he likes it. It’s as if the pain let’s him know that he wants to be alive, even though his life seemed pointless before he discovered this sensation. He discovers that while life seems futile, it is only because people forget that they are alive. And when they get in a fight, when they feel pain, when their body is afraid that it will die, they feel fulfilled because they realize that they want to be alive. Their despair disappears temporarily as they beat each other into wishes to continue being. This is why they create “fight club”, to help themselves and others escape from their angst and despair, although it is temporal. This is truly the ultimate culmination of Existential angst and despair, that one must face death to feel