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My life through the Lens of Kierkegaard In lecture we learned that for Kierkegaard, modern life had become something that was ruled by the monotonous act of knowing rather than doing, as opposed to making choices that represent the individualistic beliefs and passions of the being. When viewing how I live my own subjective life through the lens of Kierkegaard’s thinking, I will focus on themes that are central to existential thought such as: autonomy, genuineness, becoming rather than being, the passions that drive me, despair, uncertainty, the balance between objectivity and subjectivity, and finally understand if I truly exist, therefore I am. One of Kierkegaard’s main ideas was the existence of three stages of life: the aesthetic, the …show more content…
Since my life is generally filled with impromptu decisions, which are based on a perpetual search for pleasure, I would currently place myself in the aesthetic stage. I am able to make this assertion, since most of the experiences I have had, occurred in the heat of the moment and are used as conquests. One example of my search for immediacy and pleasure was this summer. An improvised trip to New Orleans, filled with debauchery and search for gratification, led to complete ignorance to the ethical implications of our actions. These actions led to a mix of melancholy, dissatisfaction and even what Kierkegaard would define as despair, since I felt a conflict between my body and soul. Another indication of me currently being in the aesthetic stage is the unfortunate lack of commitment in my life. This lack of commitment can be seen mostly in the romantic sphere, but also when it comes to activities. I am never able to make plans because I do not feel capable of making a thoughtful decision, I would rather live in the moment, and feel like I do not have to be in power, …show more content…
Inner history, are achievements as well as moments in time. Outer history, are emotions feelings and experiences. In my subjective life, I tend to give a higher importance to the trophies that I collect. These trophies can be represented in different ways, one of which is being a good student and slowly but steadily achieve several academic degrees, until I reach the point of getting a Juris Doctor (J.D.). Once I achieve all of my academic goals, I may reach the top and wonder if all the hard work was worth it. Another area where my outer history defines my person rather than my inner history is in love. Since I began college, I have had a goal of meeting the most women possible with no regard of the outcome or the future. Kierkegaard would classify that as being very aesthetic since it places pleasure on top of all else. That lifestyle has led me to feel a mixture of boredom and melancholy, since there is a lack of
Take a minute to relax. Enjoy the lightness, or surprising heaviness, of the paper, the crispness of the ink, and the regularity of the type. There are over four pages in this stack, brimming with the answer to some question, proposed about subjects that are necessarily personal in nature. All of philosophy is personal, but some philosophers may deny this. Discussed here are philosophers that would not be that silly. Two proto-existentialists, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, were keen observers of humanity, and yet their conclusions were different enough to seem contradictory. Discussed here will be Nietzsche’s “preparatory human being” and Kierkegaard’s “knight of faith”. Both are archetypal human beings that exist in accordance to their respective philosopher’s values, and as such, each serve different functions and have different qualities. Both serve the same purpose, though. The free spirit and the knight of faith are both human beings that brace themselves against the implosion of the god concept in western society.
Susan Wolf, born in 1952, is widely considered one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th and 21st century. One of Wolf’s most renowned works is The meanings of Lives, which drew a lot of attention in the philosophical world for a number of questions that arose from it. Arguably her most widely debated and questioned assertion in The meanings of Lives is “If you care about yourself you’re living as if you’re the center of the universe, which is false.” This however I don’t not believe to be true. Every human being, no matter how successful or unsuccessful, has the right to care for them sleeves and not believe they are the center of the universe while doing so.
Existentialists believe that “to live is to suffer; to survive is to find meaning in the suffering”. Despite all the horrific experiences in the concentration, Viktor Frankl is determined to not lose the significance of his life and succumb to the cruelty of his situation. With the use of three literary techniques- argumentation, rhetoric, and style- Frankl gives his proposition warrant that a man will not find meaning in his life by searching for it; he must give his life significance by answering questions life asks him.
An individual’s meaning or purpose in life cannot truly be realized unless they are faced with a situation in which their course of action directly affects their future. In most cases, humankind is forced to face an extreme circumstance when something comes to an end, whether it be positive or negative, for that ending means that change is inevitable and approaching. Thus, life becomes more meaningful as something ends, for people are forced to realize what is truly important to them as well as the idea that nothing lasts forever. Individuals must choose which of the aspects and goals of their lives are the most significant and should be focused on as they approach a resolution, as can be seen in the Gawain Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Therefore, due to the finality of an ending and the uncertainty of the following events, humankind can reveal what they believe are the
Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher in the mid 1800s. He is known to be the father of existentialism and was at least 70 years ahead of his time. Kierkegaard set out to attack Kant’s rational ethics and make attacks on the Christianity of our day. He poses the question, how do we understand faith? He states that faith equals the absurd. In “Fear and Trembling”, he uses the story of Abraham and his son Isaac to show an example of faith as the absurd. The story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac signifies a break in the theory that ethics and religion go hand in hand. He shows how the ethical and the religious can be completely different. “I by no means conclude that faith is something inferior but rather that it is the highest, also that it is dishonest of philosophy to give something else in its place and to disparage faith” (Fear and Trembling, 12).
In Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Kierkegaard differentiates between the subject as the knower, and the world (object) as the known: the only way we know the world is through ourselves. Kierkegaard emphasizes the importance of "how" the subject is related to the truth, and not the "what" (content) of the objective. He asserts that the truth can only exist in the subject, for if it lies in the world, we could never access (know) the truth the way we know ourselves. Kierkegaard explains that we can only discover the truth by turning inward: "passionate inwardness" is essential to finding the truth, as it is the way in which the subject is seeking the truth; the more passion the subject has, the closer she/he comes to the truth. "Passionate inwardness" is fueled by "objective uncertainty": if an individual sees objective proof of her truth, she will become less passionate; however, when she does not find reassurance in the objective, her inward passion will lead her to "the" (her) truth. This paradox relies on the subject believing passionately in the truth that exists in her while believing in a lack of objective support for that truth.
Hamann, G.E. Lessing and his teacher of philosophy… Poul Martin Moller.” (William McDonald). Despite being one of the greatest philosophers, Kierkegaard had a simple, boring life which most humans can probably relate to; however, he also used his time wisely which resulted in his rise of becoming a very influential philosopher. Kierkegaard’s contributions to existentialism would be “the opening up by Kierkegaard of this terra incognita of man’s inner life will come to play a major role for later existentialist.” (Douglas Burnham).
The first stage he regards as the aesthetic stage. Anyone placed at the aesthetic stage is considered to be at the lowest stage of life. Human beings who belong to this stage are not concerned with good or evil or right and wrong. During this stage they are only concern with meeting their own personal desires, pleasures, and passions. The aesthetic stage could be considered to be the selfish stage of life since people are only concern with their own wellbeing and fail to acknowledge others; they believe they are always correct. This stage can be regarded as the immature stage as well because individuals within this stage avoid commitment and responsibility. Human beings at this stage are on a search to maximize their passions and pleasure because they want to combat their boredom. Although sometimes human beings wish to repeat pleasant experiences to relive an excitement soon enough the repetitiveness of such events will cause the initial feeling of pleasure to get lost. Boredom caused by repetitiveness at this stage are unavoidable because boredom is only temporality
classicmoviescripts/script/seventhseal.txt. Internet. 4 May 2004. Blackham, H. J. Six Existentialist Thinkers. New York: Harper, 1952. Choron, Jacques. Death and Western Thought. New York: Collier Books, 1963.
In each of the stages are measured person new challenges associated with age (degree of development) and social situations in which it is situated. Erikson described the characteristic "crises" occurring in stages that will be shown are the most viable. This doesn’t mean that later no longer have meaning. It's like all of us strike deal with them shapes our personality. The crisis is understood in this theory as the need to develop new forms of adaptation to the environment and fulfill our needs. The core of each stage is a "fundamental crisis", representing a challenge for the developing ego and being a product of contact with some new aspect of society. However, "fundamental crisis" exists not only during a certain stage. There is in certain stage obviously, but it has its roots in the past and the consequences in the next. In the last stage (integrity vs. despair) after the experience of the previous phases human can “reap the fruits” of his life. Experiencing that his life has a purpose and meaning. Although human knows that others may have different lifestyles, however, follows his own. The opposite of despair when he sees rather a variation of fate, the fragility of life. This reinforces the fear of death. From the clash between despair and integrity, sense and nonsense born wisdom. Erikson describes it as an impartial interest in life itself, in the face of death itself. During this period a person can experience a sense of fullness and communicate them to others, which alleviates the feeling of despair and helplessness that appears at the end of
As presented in the Phenomenology of Spirit, the aim of Life is to free itself from confinement "in-itself" and thus to become "for-itself." Not only does Hegel place this unfolding of Life at the very beginning of the dialectical development of self-consciousness; Hegel characterizes self-consciousness itself as a form of Life and even refers us to the development of self-consciousness in the Master/Slave dialectic as an essential moment in the fulfillment of this aim of Life to become 'for-itself.' The following paper delineates this overlooked thread of the dialectic. The central thesis is that each step along the path of self-consciousness' attempt at making the truth of its unity with itself explicit, is simultaneously a step in the realization of the aim of Life: to become 'for-itself.' In the review of the Master/Slave dialectic, it reveals itself that the necessary condition for the fulfillment of Life's aim lies in work. Yet...
Psychosocial development has eight stages of life. With the completion of each stage a person learn from the achievement of basic virtues; characteristic strengths, an ego, and determine subsequent predicament. Unsuccessfully, mastering each stage has tribulations that affect their sense of personality. Erik Erickson the writer of the eight stages of life study breaks down each stage, psychosocial crisis, basic virtue, and age. When a person completes each stage they successful enter into a new life stage. Exploring Fred’s story we will review each stage of Erickson’s theory.
Ross, Kelly L. "Existentialism." The Proceedings of the Friesian School, Fourth Series. Kelly L. Ross, Ph.D., 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Kafka and Camus utilize emotions from Kubler Ross’s five stages of death in The Metamorphosis and The Stranger to stress individuality and isolation. Works Cited Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward.
Erik Erikson’s eight Stages of man; politically known as the eight stages of psychosocial development. He promotes social interactions as a motivation to personality development. Erickson studied stages from the beginning of the life cycle to the later stages of life. Erickson was trained under the famous Sigmund Freud. His belief was that it wasn’t only sex that motivated personality development. Social interaction and a growing sense of competence is the key to it all. Because his beliefs differed from the beliefs of Freud, Erikson quickly began to work on his own. Erickson has focused on many different eras of psychological development.