The Filipino Theology of Education

Baluyot, Carla Priscila A. 

A22-35100 
Ed.D - EM 
 

The Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard

 
Born Søren Aabye Kierkegaard 
5 May 1813 
Copenhagen, Denmark, Denmark–Norway 
  
Died 11 November 1855 (aged 42) 
Copenhagen, Denmark 
  
Education University of Copenhagen 
(M.A., 1841) 
  
Region Western philosophy 
  
School Existentialism 
Continental philosophy 
Christian existentialism 
Existential psychology 
  
Thesis Om Begrebet Ironi med stadigt Hensyn til Socrates (On the Concept of Irony
with Continual Reference to Socrates) (1841) 
  
Main interests Aesthetics 
Christianity 
Epistemology 
Ethics 
Metaphysics 
Philosophy of Christianity 
Poetry 
Psychology 
  
Notable ideas The Absurd 
Angst 
Authenticity 
Existential despair 
Existential philosophy 
Infinite qualitative distinction 
Knight of faith 
Leap of faith 
 Present age 
Teleological suspension of the ethical 
 

A. Review of related topics that have been discussed by the previous reporters:
- Difference between Essentialism and Existentialism
In Essentialism the essentialists believe that human beings have their
essence even before their existence. While existentialism tells otherwise.
Existentialists believe that we are born first and it is up to us to find our
purpose, and our essence and it is up to us to make our own path.
In the Christian view, according to the bible, we can cite verses that tell us that
even before we exist, we have our essence through God.
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you
apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that
will stand.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and
not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future

Existentialism is not atheism, there are existentialists that are theists. Theistic
Existentialists deny any sort of teleology. They refute the notion that God made the
universe, our world, or us with any particular purpose. God exists, but it is not his part to
find meaning in your life or create a path that you need to take. It is you who need to do
that. (Griffin J.T., 1960)
Existentialists tell us that our life is meaningless but it is up to you to put meaning to it.
One of the Existentialists that is a theist or believes in God is Soren Kierkegaard

B. Soren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (b. 1813, d. 1855) was a profound and prolific writer in
the Danish “golden age” of intellectual and artistic activity. His work crosses the
boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, literary criticism, devotional
literature, and fiction. Kierkegaard brought this potent mixture of discourses to
bear as social critique and for the purpose of renewing Christian faith within
Christendom. At the same time, he made many original conceptual contributions
to each of the disciplines he employed. He is known as the “father of
existentialism”, but at least as important are his critiques of Hegel and of the
 German romantics, his contributions to the development of modernism, his
stylistic experimentation, his vivid re-presentation of biblical figures to bring out
their modern relevance, his invention of key concepts which have been explored
and redeployed by thinkers ever since, his interventions in contemporary Danish
church politics, and his fervent attempts to analyze and revitalize Christian faith.
(Mcdonald)

Soren Kierkegaard is known as the Father of Existentialism.

Existentialism is a catch-all term for those philosophers who consider the nature of the
human condition as a key philosophical problem and who share the view that this
problem is best addressed through ontology.

Kierkegaard’s reaction to Hegel's speculative philosophy. Stewart, J. (2003)

As opposed to Hegel, what matters to Kierkegaard is concrete existence. For him,
existence can only be applied to human beings and not to entities. To exist means to
strive, to consider alternatives, to choose, to decide, to commit
He rejected the system-building approach of Hegel and argued instead that the quest
for truth involves personal choice, grounded in religious faith.

The individual will come to a proper understanding of human existence and society only
when he radically breaks from the prevailing cultural attitudes

How can the individual truly exist or live in a fully human way?
In his view, existence is above all something that has to be shaped. People must make
themselves if they want to be themselves. "A man cannot evade this self-realization;
that would be as impossible as evading one's very self — which is really the same thing,
as the self is the same as self-realization". (1) The self cannot be itself unless it is
creating itself. So, the fact that people have to form themselves means that human
existence is a task. (2)
How can self-realization possible?
It can be attained through 3 stages of life
"Stages on life's way"
1. Aesthetic Stage
2. Ethical Stage
3. Religious Stage

True self or authentic existence is actualized in the form of individuality.

1. Aesthetic Stage
The aesthetic stage deals with sensuousness: “a life that turns entirely on giving
oneself the pleasure, ranging from the most basic and sensual to the highest and
most artistic pleasures.” It has often been said that this stage is reducible to a
form of hedonism. Evans refers to the aesthetic as “the immediate,” which refers
to the “natural, spontaneous sensations that lie at the heart of the conscious
human experience.”1 The significance of this is that the “immediate” can refer to
a small child or even to a mature life-stance adult.

The main goal of an individual is to satisfy one’s desire and this is through
pleasure and lust. This stage is ruled by passion. This stage tells that if one
wants to live aesthetic life to the fullest, one must maximize pleasure. This is the
perfect example of Hedonism.

Hedonism - the ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of
desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life.
According to Kierkegaard, human beings in this stage will have a hard time to be
contented. He acknowledged the need of an individual to meet their physiological
needs, but to meet those needs alone is not enough to attain contentment. It will result
in boredom, not only to activity but to self.

Is like a poison that flows through the veins of each individual, whether poor or rich no
one escapes this: "psychic-emotional state"

One must realize that her desires can never be fully satisfied so with this, one must
change. When the individual experiences this situation he or she is confronted with a
choice. Either, or. Either she remains in the pursuit of sensual pleasures or seeks higher
forms of pleasures.
 2. Ethical Stage
The ethical deals with a personal transition from the sphere of the aesthete to the
sphere of recognizing morally universal rules of conduct. The individual in this
case is burdened by the universal which dominates him; he recognizes his own
finitude and thus is confronted with guilt, taking note of his mortality and
estrangement from God.
Being in this stage is the result of the individual's decision to commit herself to
the moral ideals of society. A person who is in this stage considers the effect of her
duties and responsibilities on her work, fellowmen, and society as a whole.
In the aesthetic stage, the center is oneself, while in the ethical stage, one will
see herself as a member of society and what he/she can do for others.

Problem: the ethical individual will eventually reflect and realize that she does not
always do what she ought to do - no one does this leads to guilt and despair. As an
individual is in this stage, sooner or later, s/he will realize that we commit mistakes no
matter what we do and will lead to trying harder to do the right thing, thus moving to the
third stage, the Religious State.

3. Religious Stage
The religious stage, according to Kierkegaard, cannot be obtained merely by
rational thought/decisiveness. The individual must make what Kierkegaard calls
“the leap,” or, famously known as “the leap of faith.” Kierkegaard however, does
not mean to take an irrational or blind leap to loving and trusting God, but rather,
he means the “risk one takes with one’s life when one decides passionately to
entrust oneself entirely and without reserve to God whom no one can possess as
an object.”

Only religion can give an individual true meaning to his existence. It is only God's
forgiveness that can eradicate guilt and despair. It is not the alternative of ethics
because these two stages can be incompatible. One of the examples that Kierkegaard
cited is Abraham's sacrifice as a result of obedience to God.

According to Kiekergaard we must believe even though faith violates human rationality,
nature and morality. A faith that conforms to moral intuition does not have any
significance it is the absurdity of religion that proves its unique values
Why would humans believe?
We can only be in this stage when we do this leap of faith. This happens only when a
choice in favor of faith has been made. Choice or act of choice must be based on self-
conscious and authentic decisions rather than the effect of conformism. Inwardness or
truth as subjectivity when one becomes more of an individual through conscious
choices and a full self-awareness before God.

In the religious state, the individual finds true fulfillment and attain a meaningful life
this is made possible through a leap of faith. As a Christian, he believed that faith
requires a radical, courageous decision to follow Christ.

REFERENCES:
Bellinger, Charles. “Very Short Life of SK.” Very Short Life of SK,
www.ccel.org/k/kierkegaard/kierkegaard.htm. Accessed 25 Nov. 2022.
Dunn, Steven. “The Legitimate Use of Kierkegaard in Apologetics - Christian
Apologetics Alliance.” Christian Apologetics Alliance, 25 Mar. 2014,
christianapologeticsalliance.com/2014/03/25/the-legitimate-use-of-kierkegaard-
in-apologetics.
“Existentialism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” Existentialism | Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iep.utm.edu/existent. Accessed 25 Nov. 2022.
“Hegel’s System of Knowledge.” Hegel’s System of Knowledge,
www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/triads/index.htm. Accessed 25 Nov.
2022.
GRIFFIN, J. T. (1960). Existentialism: The Theistic Thread. Philippine Studies, 8(3),
557–567. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42719584
KIERKEGAARD, S., La maladie a la mort, in Oeuvres Complètes, Editions de L'Orante,
Paris, 1984, vol. 16, p. 175.
Mcdonald, William. “Søren Kierkegaard.” Søren Kierkegaard (Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy), 2017, plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard.
Stewart, J. (2003). Kierkegaard's Relations to Hegel Reconsidered (Modern European
Philosophy). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
doi:10.1017/CBO9780511498367